When a child or adult is sexually assaulted, the justice system should protect them.

Too often, it makes everything worse.

Victims are traumatised twice — first by the perpetrator, and then by the system meant to deliver justice.

In court, trauma responses are misunderstood, questioned, and too often used against victims.

People who have already experienced harm are made to feel like they are the ones on trial.

Many victims of sexual assault do not scream, fight, or verbally resist.

They may freeze, comply, or respond later — all recognised trauma responses.

These are not signs of consent.

They are responses to fear.

Yet in court, these behaviours are still treated with doubt.

Victims are challenged, picked apart, and made to feel like criminals instead of being protected.

This is not justice.

This is re-traumatisation.

For autistic victims, these failures are even more severe.

Autism affects communication, processing, and responses to stress and trauma.

In courtrooms, autistic behaviours are often misunderstood or misinterpreted, and can be wrongly used to undermine credibility.

Autistic children and vulnerable individuals are too often questioned in ways that feel like they are being treated as the problem — rather than being recognised as victims of a serious crime.

Instead of being supported, they can feel interrogated, confused, and overwhelmed by a process that does not reflect how they communicate or process events.

Autistic individuals are significantly more likely to experience sexual assault, yet the justice system continues to expect them to respond in ways that do not reflect how their brains process trauma.

Section 28 pre-recorded evidence, while intended to support vulnerable victims, is not always working in practice.

For autistic individuals in particular, the format and questioning can limit their ability to fully explain themselves.

Juries do not always see the full emotional context, and important nuances in communication can be lost — particularly when specialist professionals are not involved to help the jury understand trauma responses and how autism can affect behaviour, communication, and presentation under pressure.

This can lead to misunderstanding, reduced credibility, and further injustice.

UK law already recognises that victims — including autistic individuals — are entitled to protection:

The Equality Act 2010 requires reasonable adjustments

The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 provides special measures for vulnerable witnesses

The Victims’ Code guarantees dignity, respect, and support

Yet these protections are too often not applied in practice.

Instead of being supported, victims are:

misunderstood

challenged on their trauma responses

and forced to relive their experiences in ways that cause further harm
This must change.

We need reform to ensure all victims of sexual assault are protected — and that autistic victims receive the specialist understanding they require:

• Trauma responses must never be used against victims in court

• Specialist expertise in autism and trauma must be available where needed

• Judges, juries, and legal professionals must receive proper training

• Greater consideration must be given to how cases involving vulnerable victims are heard

• Court processes must be more sensitive to the realities of trauma

Sexual assault is a serious crime.

Victims deserve protection, not further harm.

Autism affects reactions — not the truth

The justice system may have failed my child.

Please don’t let it fail others.