I was 20 when Jodie Foster portrayed a rape victim in The Accused in 1988.

The film had a profound and lasting effect on my generation of women, as we all wised up to the sort of character assassination that might take place should we ever find ourselves on the witness stand following a sexual assault: “You’ll be asked… how many drinks a day you have, and how many joints, and how often you go to bars alone, and whether you wear underwear, and how many abortions you’ve had.”

Not to mention, of course, exhaustive scrutiny of your previous sex life.Unsurprisingly, many women felt they’d rather not testify at all than undergo a second brutal ordeal. Especially when there was every chance gawping onlookers would find them guilty of promiscuity for not being a Vestal Virgin.