RESEARCHERS have called for an overhaul of rape cases are handled in court.

Experts from the Glasgow University’s Centre for Crime and Justice Research said survivors were “overwhelmed by attempts by the defence to challenge their credibility”.

A study of 17 different rape cases heard that survivors felt they they were often asked questions “designed to depict them as untruthful or dishonest”.

One woman told how she was portrayed in court by the defence as a “terrible mother” and “scorned woman” who had made allegations of rape against her partner in revenge for him cheating.

A male rape survivor said he was repeatedly made out to have been drunk at the time of the attack despite evidence that he was completely sober.

Prosecutors also asked one survivor what she had been wearing, and in another case pulled up the woman’s Facebook history to point to instances where she had ‘liked’ something on her rapist’s page and claimed she was “obsessed with him”.

Questioning around a victim’s sexual history or character is restricted in sexual offence trials and the study said it was not possible from interviews with survivors to determine whether the questioning in court had “strayed beyond what was, or should have been permitted”.

However, the researchers recommend that “consideration should be given to a review of the adversarial nature and manner of defence questioning”.

The study added that a “review of the use of sexual history and character evidence at trial” should be carried out.

It also recommends that Scotland’s courts should provide independent legal representation to rape survivors so that they can feel “more adequately represented”.

This has previously been backed by leading prosecutor Simon Di Rollo QC and Peter Duff, a criminology professor at Aberdeen University. They said the current system, where the Crown acts in the public interest, is not suited to rape trials.

Prof Duff said: “It’s not the job of the prosecution to look after the victim. If they want to use sexual history evidence the prosecution rarely opposes this.”

The number of rapes and attempted rapes reported to the police in Scotland has increased from 997 in 2010/11 to 2,255 in 2017/18. However, only only 39% of rape cases that go to trial result in a conviction and even fewer go to trial at all.

Of the 17 cases in the study, only three resulted in guilty verdicts, with others abandoned, ending in not proven verdicts, or achieving conviction on non-sexual charges.

A spokesman for the Crown Office said it is “committed to improving the experience of victims within the criminal justice system and will consider the terms of this report.”