Russell Brand case should be watershed moment in treatment of rape victims: Jayne Dowle

Rightly so, and not before time. In any democracy, the system should surely provide women with a fair opportunity to obtain justice, without subjecting them to discriminatory assumptions and repeated trauma.

As the sentencing judge Mr Justice Bennathan told the court: “Whatever women wear, wherever they go, indeed whatever they drink, they retain the right to say no.”

The repercussions don’t stop there. This trial was always going to be about celebrity, and 51-year-old Brand spent lavishly, a reported £1m, on establishing a formidable defence, led by barrister Ian Winter KC, a criminal specialist, previously known for his work on fraud and financial crime cases.

Brand’s place in the spotlight guaranteed that this would be a high-profile prosecution. Now, however, that spotlight has shifted, from perpetrator to process.

Winter’s harsh cross examination of the victims in court has caused outcry, with advocacy group Victim Support accusing the defence’s relentless approach for deploying “rape myths, misconceptions and stereotypes" during the trial, noting that the survivors had to endure attempts to blame and discredit them while seeking justice.

There is also the matter of ensuring that juries always understand "underlying behaviours" without "running to judgement" over how a victim behaved in a particular way, argues Harriet Wistrich, director and founder of the Centre for Women’s Justice. The jury in the Brand trial, held at Southwark Crown Court, was made up of eight men and four women, who had been “carefully selected” it was reported. Not all juries are selected with care. This needs urgent attention.

Even the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has stepped in. Speaking in a radio interview last weekend, he said the government needs to address how to “make sure they do not leave the woman feeling like she is on trial in court".

He is also vowing to be “relentless in making whatever improvements we can” to provide more support for victims, including ensuring there are rape and serious sexual offence teams in every police force by the end of next year.

However, Burnham should be wary of presuming that centuries of judgement can be overturned simply because of one very powerful case.

Speaking as Brand’s sentencing hearing was under way, he did admit: “I’ll be honest and say I don’t think you ever can do enough to get the right support in place for victims to give them the confidence to come forward, because we know that still isn’t there in the way that it should be.”

A lot of the prejudice and lack of understanding is so ingrained it’s institutional. And taking on the legal profession, especially questioning the tactics of defence barristers is a tall order. These are people whose living relies on using whatever legal means possible to secure the best possible outcome for their client.

The PM should not delay in setting up an expert-led commission which, informed by the lessons learned during the Brand investigation and trial, sets out clear recommendations on how rape and sexual assault cases should be treated.

One strong idea so far comes from Labour peer Helena Kennedy KC, who argues that lawyers who conduct sex cases should be required to hold a certificate proving that they have undergone recent additional training to ensure they are as prepared and fair as possible.

Many promises have been made by the current government to stamp out violence against women and girls. One way to achieve this is to send out a very strong message that those who commit such offences will not get away with their abhorrent behaviour.

But of course, this cannot happen unless victims feel that they can come forward and take that courageous first step of walking into a police station or calling 999.

So many victims attempt to carry on and live their lives knowing what happened to them was very wrong, but are so afraid of pressing charges, being interviewed by the police, providing evidence for a case and going to court, they stay silent.

If they knew that they would be treated with respect and taken seriously throughout, they might - in time - feel confident to proceed. But for this, they need to know that the process of justice will be fair and supportive.

Brand is now in prison. His victims, including those whose cases were heard in court, and others reported to be coming forward, will spend the rest of their lives living with what happened to them.

If anything good can remotely come of any of this, it will be that politicians, police and judiciary make good their promise of change.