Five years on — a reflection on injustice and being heard.
By Jade Blue
When the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped my rape case in 2020, it was like the ground fell away beneath me. After waiting nearly three and a half years for my day in court, I was told that the man who raped me would not be facing court - because a “sleep specialist” I had never met had suggested I might have been suffering from an episode of ‘sexsomnia’, acting as though I was consenting. It was the first time I had ever heard the term sexsomnia, and the moment I realised how fragile justice can be when the system stops listening to victims.
Learning what the ‘Right to Be Reviewed’ really means
I was aware of the Victims' Right to Review (VRR) - I understood that if the CPS decided to drop a case, a victim could request a review of that decision. What I didn’t fully appreciate was how limited that right really was in practice, where a case is dropped later in the proceedings after the defendant has been charged. When I asked for a review, I thought deep down that it meant the decision could genuinely be reversed - that someone independent would re-examine what had gone wrong and reopen the case. But I quickly discovered how narrow the process is and how difficult it is for survivors to use.
The CPS’s VRR process is intended to provide oversight; however, in practice, it offers limited independence and transparency. It typically involves two stages: an initial review by a manager in the same regional CPS office who was not involved in the original decision, and, if that outcome is upheld, a further review by an independent prosecutor from the national Appeals and Review Unit.
For survivors, the process can feel isolating. There is little guidance or support, and communication is often minimal. Still, I challenged the decision. I couldn’t accept that my case - built over years of evidence, statements, and trauma - could be dismissed so easily.
In some respects, my review was a success: the independent CPS reviewer determined that the original decision had been a mistake and that the case should have gone to trial. But by then it was too late - my rapist had already been formally acquitted, when the original prosecutor decided to offer “no further evidence,” a final closure that could not be undone.
Unable to reopen the prosecution, I brought a civil claim against the CPS with the support of the Centre for Women’s Justice. After nearly three years, the case concluded with a £35,000 settlement for damages and a letter outlining the lessons the CPS claimed to have learned.
But I didn’t pursue it for money. I did it because I needed the truth acknowledged - and because I wanted to ensure that no one else would have to go through what I did.
From personal fight to public campaign
That experience led me to create Make Yourself Heard, a platform that amplifies survivor voices through storytelling, art, and activism. Our current campaign, Right to be Reviewed, calls for the CPS’s limited and temporary pilot scheme, which allows survivors to request a review before their case is formally dropped, to be made permanent, national, and placed on a statutory footing.
The pilot, launched relatively quietly earlier this year, is an important step forward. For the first time, it gives survivors the chance to intervene before their case is closed - before that devastating call or final letter arrives. However, as it is a pilot, it will only be in effect in the West Midlands for six months, and there is no guarantee that it will continue beyond this period.
Through Make Yourself Heard, we’re urging the CPS and government to commit to making this process a permanent right. Survivors deserve more than a pilot. We deserve a justice system that sees us as active participants, not bystanders to our own cases.
Why it matters
Every week, I hear from women who were told their case was “no longer in the public interest,” that “the evidential threshold wasn’t met,” or that “a prosecution isn’t likely to succeed.” Behind every one of those phrases is a person - often a woman - who has already endured violence, disbelief, and years of waiting, only to have her case shut down without her voice ever being heard.
When the CPS fails to explain its decisions or allows questionable defences like “sexsomnia” to go untested, it sends a message that survivors’ experiences don’t really matter. That message ripples far beyond individual cases. It damages confidence in the entire justice system and discourages others from coming forward.
The VRR process was meant to give victims a safeguard - the opportunity to reverse a decision not to prosecute. However, it is currently a safeguard in name only. The Right to Be Reviewed campaign is about making it a reality: a meaningful mechanism for oversight, fairness, and change.
What change looks like
Making the pilot permanent would be a start - but it’s not enough.
Survivors should be clearly informed of their rights from the outset of the process, and these rights must be made visible, accessible, and understandable. According to the Victims’ Commissioner’s Annual Victims Survey 2024, only 14% of the 6,500 respondents had heard of the Victims’ Right to Review.
This isn’t just about process - it’s about power. Power over who defines justice, and whose voices shape it. If the CPS is serious about rebuilding trust, it must treat survivors not as case studies but as partners in reform - and turn lessons learned from one case, mine included, into real and lasting change.
Making ourselves heard
I founded Make Yourself Heard because silence serves no one except those who benefit from the status quo. Through our work, survivors are reclaiming their voices - through campaigns, art, music, writing, and symbolic acts of release and healing. It’s about turning pain into purpose, and frustration into fuel for reform.
My hope is that by speaking out, others will too - in whatever form that may be, whether anonymously or by waiving anonymity. Every voice is powerful. Change doesn’t happen because institutions decide it’s time; it happens because people make noise - and refuse to stop until they’re heard.
Call to action
If you believe survivors deserve a genuine right to review, not a limited pilot, please add your voice. Write to your MP. Share our campaign: www.makeyourselfheard.org/our-campaigns
The CPS pilot opened a door - but only halfway. Right to Be Reviewed is about pushing it wide open and keeping it open for good. Because every survivor deserves more than a moment of being heard - they deserve a justice system that finally listens.
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About Jade Blue
Jade Blue is a campaigner and founder of Make Yourself Heard, a survivor-led platform using arts, culture, and advocacy to drive systemic change. She successfully held the Crown Prosecution Service to account after her rape case was dropped, and now leads the “Right to Be Reviewed” campaign to make the CPS pilot permanent and national.