Charity claims rape victims shouldn't be discouraged to report it
The South West Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre says victims should report incidents to police but only if they want to.
The South West Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre says victims should be neither encouraged nor discouraged to report incidents to the police.
It follows a report from the Edinburgh Rape Crisis centre in which a woman details her experience of telling the police she was raped on a night out.
In the 30 page document, the woman wants to highlight what she calls injustice and hostility that women face.
Her claims include she was treated like a piece of meat by forensics, had her statement taken by an unsympathetic female officer and her attacker was eventually cleared on a not proven verdict because he was a married man who came from a good background.
Figures show only 1 in 6 rapes are reported to police with only 15% making it to court.
Iraina McGroarty from The South West Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre says she can sympathise with the woman but it isn't representative of every case...