On the 9th June 2026 Dr Matt Brooks and Dr Hannah Fawcett spoke to the Addressing Rape Myths working group facilitated by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS). The working group consists of SCTS staff, academics, and practitioners all working to understand how the prevalence of rape myths can be minimised in the Scottish Courts. These rape myths can be damaging to justice, as they involve faulty stereotypes and victim blaming.
The working group were interested to hear of our research regarding the wide range of stressors that jurors face and were keen to understand the impact of juror stress on rape myth acceptance. Whilst graphic and harrowing information may be unavoidable in Rape and Serious Sexual Offence (RASSO) cases, we discussed how fair decision making and resistance to rape myths may be supported by minimising the stress associated with other aspects of jury service.
We look forward to other opportunities to inform criminal justice practice and support juror wellbeing.
