政府独立强奸问题顾问告诉《卫报》，由高关注度案件引发的辩论必须“揭开帷幕”，审视英格兰和威尔士刑事司法系统对性犯罪指控人的对待方式。
The debate triggered by high profile cases must "pull back the curtain" on the treatment of people making allegations of sexual offences in the criminal justice system in England and Wales, the government's independent adviser on rape has told the Guardian.
曾就警方和皇家检控署（CPS）处理强奸案件的改革向政府提供建议的卡特琳·霍尔教授表示，政府应利用拉塞尔·布兰德因强奸罪被定罪所引发的公众关注，审视审判中强奸迷思的使用以及对陪审团的指引。
Prof Katrin Hohl, who has advised the government in an overhaul of how rape is treated by police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said the government should use the public awareness triggered by Russell Brand's conviction for rape to examine the use of rape myths and jury direction in trials.
她说：“在强奸和性侵犯受害者的待遇问题上，我们的司法系统有太多事情出了错，但大多数时候，没人知道调查过程或审判过程中到底发生了什么。”
"So many things are going wrong in our justice system when it comes to the treatment of victims of rape and sexual assault, but most of the time no one ever finds out what has happened during the investigation process or during a trial," she said.
霍尔表示，尽管警方和皇家检控署在“索特里亚行动”制度下——该制度要求调查更多聚焦于嫌疑人而非受害者行为——取得了“显著进展”，但法院系统却被落在了后面。
Hohl said that despite "significant progress" made by police forces and the CPS – who have been directed to make investigations more focused on suspects rather than victim behaviour under a system known as Operation Soteria– the court system was being left behind.
霍尔上月发布的一份报告指出，按新制度准备的性侵案件进入审判阶段时正经历“断崖式下跌”，并可能面临辩护律师使用强奸迷思等做法。
A report published by Hohl last month suggested sexual assault cases prepared under the new system were experiencing "a cliff edge" when they came to trial, and were potentially coming up against practices such as the use of rape myths by defence barristers.
“我们对强奸和性侵案件在英格兰和威尔士的审理过程几乎一无所知，是时候揭开帷幕了，”霍尔说。“我们需要对律师、法官和陪审团在审判中的行为进行适当的研究，以便受害者真正能获得法律规定他们应得的正义。”
"We essentially know very little about how rape and sexual assault cases play out in England and Wales and it is time to pull back the curtain," said Hohl. "We need proper research into the actions of barristers, judges and juries during trials so that victims can actually get the justice the law says they should achieve."
霍尔的言论是在受害者专员克莱尔·瓦克斯曼呼吁对法官施加新的法定义务之后发表的，要求法官在审判中出现强奸迷思时指导陪审团，她表示：“司法必须建立在证据基础上，而非误解之上。”在布兰德案审判中，这名喜剧演员因强奸一名女性和性侵三名女性被判有罪，获刑十年以上；他的辩护律师伊恩·温特称，布兰德的指控者“没有反抗、尖叫，甚至没有试图离开”。
Hohl's remarks come after the victims commissioner, Claire Waxman, called for a new legal duty on judges to direct juries, if rape myths have been ventured during a trial, stating: "Justice must be grounded in evidence, not misconceptions." During the Brand trial, which saw the comedian sentenced to more than 10 years in prison after he was found guilty of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others his barrister, Ian Winter, said Brand's accusers had not "resisted or screamed or even tried to leave".
政府部长们据悉也在考虑关于“分阶段”同意年龄法的呼吁，该法将规定超过一定年龄的成年人与16岁和17岁青少年发生性行为属于违法。此前，一名声称自己16岁时遭Brand强奸的女性发起了修改法律的运动。Mia Latter表示，当Brand30岁、她16岁时，两人维持了一段持续三个月的虐待性关系。她对《星期泰晤士报》说：“我想我们大家都同意……成年人不应该被允许与儿童、与18岁以下的人建立性关系。这似乎并不是一个巨大的跨越。”
Government ministers are also understood to be considering calls for a "staggered" consent law, which would make it illegal for adults over a certain age to have sex with 16- and 17-year-olds, after a woman who alleges she was raped by Brand when she was 16 launched a campaign for the law to be changed Mia Latter, who says she was in an abusive three-month relationship with Brand when he was 30 and she was 16, told the Sunday Times: "I think we all sort of agree that … adults shouldn't be allowed to have sexual relationships with children, with somebody under the age of 18. That really doesn't seem like a gigantic leap to take."
周日，Pat McFadden表示部长们将讨论该问题。他在接受BBC节目《周日与Laura Kuenssberg对话》采访时，身为就业与养老金大臣的他表示，关于分阶段同意年龄的问题“已被提出并将予以讨论”，并补充道：“我无法告诉你讨论的结论会是什么，但过去一周确实让这一问题备受瞩目。”自判决以来，多家为性侵和强奸受害者提供支持的服务机构表示，其求助热线的来电和信息数量显著增加。
On Sunday, Pat McFadden said ministers would discuss the issue. Speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the work and pensions secretary said questions over a staggered age of consent have "been raised and will be discussed", adding: "[I] can't tell you what the conclusion of that would be, but the last week has certainly put that up in lights." Since the trial, several support services for victims of sexual assault and rape said they had been experiencing a significant increase in the number of calls and messages to helplines.
Rape Crisis England & Wales首席执行官Ciara Bergman表示，强奸危机中心面临“非常巨大的需求”，自Brand被判强奸罪成立以来，电话热线被来电淹没。
Rape Crisis centres are experiencing "very significant demand" and phonelines have been inundated with calls since Brand was convicted of rape, said Ciara Bergman, chief executive of Rape Crisis England & Wales.
她还表示，许多女性现在也在重新审视自己与年长男性的经历，此前曾有单独指控曝光，称David Walliams猎取年轻女性发生性关系。本周早些时候，据宣布，在《卫报》和ITV新闻的调查后，伦敦警方正在审视一系列针对Walliams的“严重”性犯罪指控。一名女性将她15岁时与Walliams的所谓遭遇描述为“性侵犯”。Walliams否认有任何不当行为。
Many women are also now questioning their own experiences with older men, she said, after separate allegations were made public that David Walliams preyed on young women for sex Earlier this week, it was announced that a series of "serious" sexual offence allegations against Walliams were being looked at by the Metropolitan police after an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News. One woman described her alleged encounter with Walliams when she was 15 as "sexual assault". Walliams denies any wrongdoing.
伯格曼表示，自本月初以来，致电热线的电话数量已增加四倍，而强奸危机中心报告称，求助需求大幅上升。
Bergman said calls to the had quadrupled since the start of the month, while rape crisis centres were reporting a massive rise in demand for help.
她说：“这些需求来自各个方面。有人看到新闻后想起了自己的经历，也有人因在新闻中看到这一议题而再次受到创伤。但也有人可能在人生脆弱时期遭受过掠夺和剥削，他们现在开始质疑自己的经历。”她呼应了要求审判更加透明的呼声，并指出，备受关注案件的报道凸显了公众对出庭审理经历以及同意权问题的认知缺口。
"That demand comes from a range of places," she said. "There are people who see the news and are reminded of their own experiences and people who are retraumatised by seeing this issue in the news. But there are people who may have experienced predation and exploitation at vulnerable times in their lives, and they're now beginning to question their own experiences." She echoed calls for greater transparency in trials, and argued the coverage of high profile cases had highlighted the gap in the public knowledge around the experience of going to trial and issues around consent.
她说：“我们的中心擅长应对受害者需求，但面临巨大压力。看看这些报道及其引发的反响，毫无疑问，需要更全面的支持和更多的强奸危机中心，以便受害者和幸存者能获得他们应得的正义。”司法部发言人表示：“我们一直在探索改善司法系统对待性暴力受害者方式的途径。
"Our centres are adept at responding to victims but they are under very significant pressure," she said. "When you look at these stories and the response to them there is no question about the need for more comprehensive support and more rape crisis centres so victims and survivors can get the justice they deserve." A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "We are always looking at ways we can improve how the justice system treats victims of sexual violence.
“因此我们正在修改法律，以阻止依赖迷思的无关证据被用作针对受害者的武器，推广针对强奸和严重性犯罪的专业法庭，并改善对受害者的支持，这得到了我们创纪录的5.5亿英镑支持服务投资的支撑。”
"That's why we are changing the law to stop irrelevant evidence that relies on myths being weaponised against victims, rolling out specialist courtrooms for rape and serious sexual offences and improving support for victims, backed by our record £550m investment in support services."