Sexual Offences

England and Wales is set to follow Ireland in introducing a right to independent legal advice and representation for complainants in sexual offence trials when requests are made to introduce evidence of their past sexual behaviour. As part of its "end-to-end rape review", the UK government asked the

Northern Ireland is set to criminalise the creation and sharing of sexually explicit "deepfake" images of adults under plans now out for consultation. There is currently no legislation in Northern Ireland which criminalises the creation and sharing of sexually explicit deepfake images where the imag

Ministers are set to legislate to remove the so-called "honest belief" defence in rape trials, according to reports. The Law Reform Commission recommended a change to the existing law, set out in section 2 of the Criminal Law (Rape) Act 1981, in a report published in 2018.

Complainants in sexual assault cases will no longer be able to waive their right to a pre-trial disclosure hearing under reforms proposed by the government. The general scheme of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 sets out proposals aimed at ensuring that counselling

The Supreme Court has delivered a judgment concerning the rights of victims in proceedings for sexual offences and the impact of the non-disclosure of a particular counselling record on the safety of the appellant’s conviction for sexual assault on a child. Delivering judgment for the Supreme

A new advocacy service for victims of sexual and domestic abuse in Northern Ireland is to be launched later this year. ASSIST NI will provide an adult service for victims who are aged 18 and above, and a separate service for children and young people who are 17 years of age and below, who are engagi

Children in Northern Ireland can now avail of an innovative pilot scheme which helps victims of serious sexual offences to navigate the criminal justice system. The children's sexual offences legal adviser (CSOLA) scheme, delivered by Victim Support NI, was launched by justice minister Naomi Long ye

Child complainants in serious sexual offence cases in Northern Ireland will soon be able to avail of free independent legal advice, justice minister Naomi Long has indicated. A children's version of the sexual offences legal advisers (SOLA) pilot was originally expected to be launched in January 202

New research on public attitudes to sexual consent in Ireland have revealed a "gulf between men and women’s understanding and expectations", Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has said. Nearly half (46 per cent) of men surveyed by Opinions Research agreed that people "often make up accusations about no

Creating sexually explicit 'deepfake' images is to become a criminal offence in England and Wales. The UK government says it is concerned by the rate at which "hyper-realistic" fake sexual images of real women and girls are proliferating thanks to widespread access to new technology.

Gisèle Pelicot's ex-husband and 50 other men have been convicted of rape and other offences in the French mass trial which made global headlines. Dominique Pelicot, 72, who drugged and raped his then wife, also 72, and arranged for other men to come to their home to rape her while she was dru

The High Court has awarded costs against MMA fighter Conor McGregor in a civil case where he was found by a jury to have raped Nikita Hand in 2018.

One in five people living in Ireland believe that women "often make up or exaggerate claims of abuse or rape", according to new EU-wide research. The Eurobarometer survey was conducted with the aim of gaining a better understanding of EU citizens’ attitudes towards violence, and relativisation

A pilot scheme providing free, independent legal advice and advocacy to adult complainants in serious sexual offence cases in Northern Ireland has been extended for two further years. The sexual offences legal advisers (SOLA) pilot scheme will now run until March 2027.

A new approach to managing sexual offenders, with a particularly strong focus on rehabilitation, has been adopted by Irish prisons. The new model of intervention, called 'New Chapters', was developed by the Irish Prison Service following a review of the Building Better Lives (BBL) programme conducte