Dr Candida Saunders

Rape on Trial

No. of episodes

22

Latest episode

2026-07-10

Where can you listen?

What actually happens to rape cases in the criminal justice system in England & Wales?

Presented by Dr Candida Saunders, a legal scholar specialising in criminal law, evidence, and procedure, Rape on Trial is a legally informed, criminal justice documentary podcast examining the investigation and prosecution of rape and serious sexual offences. Through a series of individual case studies drawing on real-life police and prosecution case-files and Crown Court trial observations, we see how criminal justice actually works in an adversarial legal system, and how it doesn't.

By looking closely at each stage of the criminal process, at cases that both do and don’t result in prosecution and conviction, we see discretionary pre-trial decision-making in action--how evidence is weighed and assessed, evidential thresholds applied, how courtroom advocates marshal evidence and present their case, how trial judges manage cases and direct juries.

What we see challenges us to reconsider everything we 'know' about rape myths, rape culture, and the criminal process.

Advisory note: Episodes may include detailed accounts of sexual and physical violence drawn directly from witness testimony, police statements, and case files. Listener discretion is advised.

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