# Taking the stand: Emma's story

An episode of [The Slow Newscast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1487320403), 27 Jun 2024, 35 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/the-tortoise-podcast/e/667bf924a17e96b00255c8bf/media.mp3

Two reports of rape. Two criminal trials. Two not guilty verdicts. Two men, cleared. Two women – torn apart. A Tortoise investigation has heard how two complainants, Grace*, and Emma*, experienced the justice system from the point their alleged rapist was charged to the moment they were told of the jury’s decision. At a time when a vanishingly small number of police-recorded rapes result in a criminal charge, access to the transcripts of these two trials has permitted a step-by-step analysis of how each woman’s case was prosecuted, how they were cross-examined by the defence, why in one case, a woman’s past sexual history was allowed to be put before a jury, and the “bad character” of one alleged rapist was not. To find out more about Tortoise: Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalists Subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Become a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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