A woman whose accused rapist was acquitted despite causing her shocking injuries says she feels betrayed by Queensland's legal system and says sexual consent laws need to change.

Jayne (not her real name) left a trail of blood through Surfers Paradise and underwent emergency surgery for a 10-centimetre internal laceration after a sexual encounter on a beach in 2010 took a disastrous turn.

A doctor told the court she was "at risk of actually dying of haemorrhage".

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES THAT MAY BE DISTRESSING FOR SOME READERS.

The Queensland Women's Legal Service (QWLS) said the case is a prime example of why the state's rape laws are the worst in Australia and need reform.

The Gold Coast mother suffered severe bruising from waist to tailbone, which she said made it painful even to sit in a courtroom months later when a 28-year-old man faced rape and grievous bodily harm charges.

The Crown argued what began as consensual sex between the two turned violent and Jayne pleaded for him to stop.

Jayne at the Gold Coast beach where she suffered severe injuries in 2010. ( ABC News: Steve Keen )

But a jury in 2011 acquitted the man, who could rely on a 109-year-old defence to rape in Queensland law: that he had a mistaken but honest and reasonable belief that she was consenting to that escalation in sex acts.

Jayne, now 46 and a grandmother, endured cross-examination on her drinking, drug use, minor criminal history and whether she was wearing underwear on the night.

Speaking out publicly for the first time, Jayne said the verdict left her in disbelief, so much so that she "had to get the court transcript because it made no sense in my mind".

"The injuries that I sustained? From having just normal sex?" she told the ABC.

"How the hell did I end up with these bruisings, on an operating table, with a 10-centimetre laceration in my vagina?

"How do you get that from sex? Not even vigorous sex does that to you. No way."

Queensland laws 'outdated and archaic'

Injuries sustained by "Jayne" after consensual sex on a Gold Coast beach turned violent. ( Supplied )

Jayne gave the ABC permission to publish photos she said she took days after her rape to document her shocking external injuries.

The photos were not shown to the jury and she said investigators did not take their own photos.

The QWLS said Jayne is not the only woman to suffer grave injuries and then watch her accused rapist get off in court after arguing he wrongly but honestly believed she was consenting.

"This happens again and again and again," QWLS solicitor Julie Sarkozi said.

She cited another woman who had stitches from internal injuries from violent sex but "he was acquitted (by) saying he thought she liked it that rough".

Ms Sarkozi said Queensland's rape laws were systematically failing victims because of "outdated and archaic notions of what constitutes consent".

She said it was "easier to defend a rape allegation in Queensland than other states", which had already moved to modernise legal definitions of sexual consent.

Queensland was worse "in terms of rape and consent and successful convictions of rape" than New South Wales, she said.

"Jayne" suffered terrible and painful bruising. ( Supplied )

The NSW Government is reviewing its consent laws to address what it says is a "systemic" problem with sexual assault cases, following the high-profile case of teenager Saxon Mullins.

NSW already denies a mistaken belief defence to those who show "reckless indifference" to a victim's consent.

In Tasmania since 2004, under Australia's most progressive rape law reforms, "if you have not had consent communicated in a positive manner, then your mistaken belief does not hold up in court and you will not be acquitted of the charge," Ms Sarkozi said.

She said a full-scale review of Queensland's rape laws was "long overdue" given they were "failing Queenslanders so badly".

Hurdles to secure rape convictions

Jayne said she was speaking out now because she wanted change.

"This is so wrong. There are too many loopholes … they need to tighten them up" she said.

"Over the years, the women that I've seen and the women that I've spoken to, they all go through the court and they all come out with the same verdict. Not guilty. How? There's something wrong."

Solicitor Julie Sarkozi says the definition of 'consent' in Queensland needs to be updated. ( ABC News: Josh Robertson )

Ms Sarkozi said the difficulty of getting rape convictions had a "trickle-down effect to the way that rape and sexual assault complaints are investigated and charges are laid".

One of her current clients has complained of being raped by a man outside a nightclub but police have not charged him.

Police told her although her injuries were consistent with rape, they "could conceivably be consistent with someone who was consenting to sexual activity but was so drunk she hurt herself," Ms Sarkozi said.

Government promises to consider issue

Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said the Palaszczuk Government had a track record of legal reform but this was "the first time the QWLS has raised this specific issue with us".

"I will be writing to them asking for specific examples of their concerns and asking them to identify what changes they believe might be required," she said.

However, a QWLS spokeswoman said it had "sent many letters to the Attorney-General's department calling for sexual assault law reform spanning years, many of which have been responded to".

Queensland Law Society vice president Bill Potts said he welcomed a community discussion about sexual consent laws but he could not see "any clear evidence which suggests that any perceived failure is in fact causing injustices in this state at all".

Tasmanian Law Society vice president Evan Hughes said that state's reforms to sexual consent laws had worked well for 14 years.

"The experience of some of our most experienced criminal lawyers is that there's been no real discernible difference in the way trials are run — except that certain things are better defined, more clearly understood and perhaps taken out of the equation," he said.

"I don't think anyone would honestly say that someone who's been the victim of significant violence who then agrees to engage in a sexual act has freely agreed to that."