Rape victims must not feel that raising a civil case is their only option for justice, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
The First Minister faced questions at Holyrood over the prosecution of sex crimes in the wake of a civil court victory for a rape victim whose attackers never faced a criminal trial.
Labour MSP Claire Baker said the decision to award damages in the case was a first for the Court of Session, and she highlighted recent figures showing only 12% of rapes and attempted rapes reported to police make it to court and the conviction rate is "low".
The case highlighted was Denise Clair's civil action against footballers David Goodwillie and David Robertson.
Ms Baker told the First Minister: "Rape Crisis Scotland are advising we will see more and more rape complainers turn to the civil justice system, but rape is a heinous crime and should always result in a criminal charge.
"What are the implications for the justice system if victims now feel the only justice they can get for these criminal acts is through the civil court system?"
Ms Sturgeon replied: "That absolutely should not be the message.
"Many of the decisions that Claire Baker is rightly talking about, and I know she understands this, are decisions for the independent prosecution services and of course for courts, but I don't think anybody can be in any doubt about the determination of this Government to ensure that there is a really tough approach for anybody that commits sexual crimes or domestic violence."
The First Minister said convictions for sex crimes are at an all-time high.
Ms Clair, a 30-year-old mother who has previously waived her right to anonymity, claimed the footballers raped her in the early hours of January 2, 2011 following a night out in Bathgate, West Lothian.
Plymouth Argyle player Goodwillie and his ex-Dundee United teammate Robertson were ordered to pay her £100,000 in damages on Tuesday following a civil action in the Court of Session.
Judge Lord Armstrong said in a written judgment the evidence for Ms Clair was "persuasive and compelling" and he found the two footballers raped her while she was too intoxicated to give consent.
The Crown Office said there was "insufficient evidence in law to raise criminal proceedings" in the case.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article