I was reading a newspaper report of a hearing in the nineteenth century Manchester Police Court. Suddenly puzzled by the use of the term the prosecutor. The police presented the prosecution case, surely?
Then it happened again. This time the prosecutor was a woman!
Light dawned
These days she would be called the victim
I think I know which I would prefer to be called
And I wonder if, somehow, this sparks the germ of an idea for how to deal with rape cases. More like a civil suit, under the aegis of the criminal law? Better than keep trying to bend or improve the rules as we try to do at present
