Sex crimes in court - Forbidding system fails too many

FIGURES suggesting that over 70% of sexual assaults are not dealt with by the courts should cause us all to pause and wonder why, in a country that imagines itself reasonably progressive, humane and protective of individuals’ rights, this can be so.

We should ask why so many people, nearly always women, are failed by the state — us — in their moment of great need and painful humiliation.

Is it because some of us have a deeply-hidden Old Testament streak that suggests that the victim is not always as innocent as they might suggest?