AN Afghan refugee who raped two women within a week in 2008 has won a reduced sentence because of his traumatic upbringing.

Esmatullah Sharifi, 32, was originally sentenced to 14 years jail in April 2012, with a minimum of 11 years, for the rape of two women in late December 2008.

The first victim was a woman he offered a lift to outside a night club in Frankston.

The second was a woman from whom he asked directions on Christmas day.

But the Court of Appeal today cut the minimum sentence to eight years and six months after accepting he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after a brutal upbringing in Afghanistan.

"Although (the sentencing judge) accepted that the appellant suffer[ed] from a post-traumatic stress disorder, as a result of [his] experiences in Afghanistan and consequent depression and anxiety, his Honour does not appear to have related this finding to the burden of imprisonment upon the appellant,'' the Court of Appeal ruled.