When somebody is accused of rape and found not guilty by the courts, it does not necessarily follow that the person who made the compliant lied.

There are all kinds of reasons why this might happen. The police may have got the wrong suspect. Eye-witness accounts vary and our memories – particularly if we have been traumatised – can be unreliable. In some cases, there is not enough evidence to convict – this is particularly true in date rape cases. Having listened to all the evidence, the jury might decide that there is reasonable doubt. Most of us believe it is better to let a possibly guilty person go free than send a potentially innocent person to jail.

Sometimes through no fault of their own, the victim is simply not believed, or makes a bad impression on the jury. Once again, traumatised people may not come across as coherent, leading the jury to doubt his or her word. In some cases, the jury may be prejudiced against the complainant – if you are working class, trans, a migrant, a minority or a sex worker you are less likely to be believed.