More on Rape and Victims’ Rights

After yesterday’s post about the emotional Radio Lab segment, “Rape and Reasonable Doubt”,  I was reminded of a Moral Maze episode that debated victims’ rights and how victims are/should be treated in the criminal justice system.  This Moral Maze debate provides an intellectual take on an issue that is emotionally charged and has high moral stakes.

Here is a part of Moral Maze‘s description of the episode:

The death of Frances Andrade, who killed herself days after testifying against Michael Brewer, the choirmaster who indecently assaulted her, has prompted a debate on how courts handle such cases. Could her suicide have been prevented? Did the defence counsel who cross-examined her, calling her a liar and a fantasist, bear some responsibility for her death? Or is it always important for the defence to challenge prosecution witnesses as robustly as the judge will allow? If so, the duty to protect vulnerable witnesses must rest with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service – and yet their overriding aim is to obtain a conviction. Frances Andrade was persuaded to give evidence (she did not herself initiate the investigation); perhaps she would have been better advised not to?