National co-ordinator, Sandy Brindley

Rape Crisis Scotland said that four women in the country were currently facing such charges, while five more faced prosecution or had faced charges which were later dropped. Officials at the charity have claimed that some women are being told that the only way they can withdraw their allegations is to say that they had been made up. FREE NEWS UPDATES 24/7...FOLLOW THE SCOTTISH EXPRESS ON TWITTER National co-ordinator, Sandy Brindley said the nine cases the charity has dealt with this year compares to just one case last year, four which took place in 2010 and five in 2009. She said: “It’s been absolutely devastating for these women.

Women already feel let down by the justice system if the case does not get to cour National co-ordinator, Sandy Brindley

“They feel betrayed and violated by the system. “Women already feel let down by the justice system if the case does not get to court. This is a further level of violation and trauma. “Women worry about being believed so they are not honest about how much they have had to drink or whether there was some consensual activity before it happened.” Miss Brindley added that some women wished to drop their claims because they could not face the trauma of giving evidence against their attacker in court or the details of the attack being played out in public.

She said: “A woman should never be told the only way to withdraw is to say that it didn’t happen.” Scotland has one of the lowest rates of conviction for rape in the whole of Europe but legislation introduced in 2010 meant the definition of rape was widened in the hope that it would result in more guilty verdicts. Research conducted in 2005 showed that just eight per cent of rape allegations were classed as false. However, Rape Crisis Scotland claims some police officers have privately intimated that they believe around 80 per cent of allegations brought to them are untrue.

The charity said it was deeply concerned this would discourage women from reporting rape because they would expect to be disbelieved from the outset. A Victim Support Scotland spokesman said: “There is still a regrettable reluctance among people who are raped to go through the ordeal of the case going to court. “There has to be a great deal of understanding given to people who lodge complaints of such a serious nature. “It cannot be the only way someone can withdraw is by saying they’ve not been telling the truth.”