I’ve fought for victims’ rights for decades. Sarah Steele’s story has stunned me | Jess Phillips

A US military court denied her so many of the rights we have secured in the UK. I will do all I can to stop this happening again

Read more from our Base Justice series here

Over decades, battles have been fought to win the rights that victims of domestic, sexual and physical violence can expect in a UK court. Separate entrances organised so victims do not have to face their abusers. The option of video evidence. Giving evidence from behind a screen. Reams of guidance for judges and legal teams about what is and isn’t an appropriate way to handle an accuser. We have rules about what you can ask a victim about their previous sexual history, and about what in their medical history can and cannot be requested.

Many of us who have campaigned on this issue have pretty much dedicated our lives to trying to make the harrowing experience of facing the man who attacked you even slightly more palatable, not just for the sake of vulnerable victims and witnesses, but for the sake of justice. It is not perfect, the system fails regularly, but I can say as someone who decided to proceed in an alleged stalking case, I can say that if going to court had meant I would be testifying for hours on end in full view of the accused, I would have likely pulled out of the case.

Jess Phillips is MP for Birmingham Yardley

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