The impact on jurors of how rape and sex abuse victims give evidence in court is to be investigated amid mounting pressure to ease the ordeal of victims with greater use of screens and video links.
The research project will also look at whether male and female jurors respond differently when a witness is not physically in front of them but instead testifies by video link or from behind a protective screen. The move coincides with a drive to increase “special measures” to reduce the trauma for vulnerable witnesses, with projects in place to test the effectiveness of pre-recorded interviews.
It will also highlight the importance of a victim’s visibility at a time when courts have had to decide whether to allow Muslim defendants to