Key facts
- Hohl said little is known about how rape and sexual assault cases play out in England and Wales.
- Hohl said police and the Crown Prosecution Service had made progress under Operation Soteria but courts were left behind.
- Hohl's report last month said cases prepared under the new system faced a cliff edge at trial.
- Claire Waxman called for a legal duty on judges to direct juries when rape myths are raised.
- Pat McFadden said a staggered age of consent has been raised and will be discussed.
- Ciara Bergman said support line calls quadrupled since the start of November 2026.
Prof Katrin Hohl, the government's independent adviser on rape, told the Guardian in a report published on November 15, 2026 that the debate triggered by high profile cases must pull back the curtain on how people making allegations of sexual offences are treated in the criminal justice system in England and Wales. Hohl, who has advised the government on an overhaul of how rape is handled by police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service, said the government should use the public awareness triggered by Russell Brand's conviction for rape to examine the use of rape myths and jury direction in trials.
Hohl said many things were going wrong in the justice system's treatment of rape and sexual assault victims, but most of the time no one finds out what happened during the investigation or trial. She said that despite significant progress by police and the CPS under Operation Soteria, which directs investigations to focus on suspects rather than victim behavior, the court system was being left behind. A report she published last month suggested sexual assault cases prepared under the new system were experiencing a cliff edge when they came to trial and were potentially meeting practices such as the use of rape myths by defense barristers. Hohl said proper research into the actions of barristers, judges and juries during trials was needed so victims could get the justice the law says they should achieve.
The remarks followed a call by victims commissioner Claire Waxman for a new legal duty on judges to direct juries if rape myths had been raised during a trial. During the Brand trial, his barrister Ian Winter said Brand's accusers had not resisted or screamed or even tried to leave. Brand was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison after being found guilty of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others.
Government ministers are also understood to be considering calls for a staggered consent law, which would make it illegal for adults over a certain age to have sex with 16- and 17-year-olds, after Mia Latter, who alleges Brand raped her when she was 16, launched a campaign for the law to be changed. Latter told the Sunday Times that adults should not be allowed to have sexual relationships with somebody under the age of 18. On November 15, 2026, work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that questions over a staggered age of consent have been raised and will be discussed, adding that he could not say what the conclusion would be.
Ciara Bergman, chief executive of Rape Crisis England & Wales, said rape crisis centers were experiencing very significant demand and phonelines had been inundated with calls since Brand was convicted. She said calls to the 24/7 rape and sexual abuse support line had quadrupled since the start of the month, and that many women were questioning their own experiences with older men after separate allegations were made public that David Walliams preyed on young women for sex. Earlier in the week, it was announced that serious sexual offence allegations against Walliams were being looked at by the Metropolitan police after an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News. Walliams denies any wrongdoing.