The End Violence Against Women campaign has slammed BBC Two’s newest reality show The Verdict today and accused it of trivialising the ordeal of rape.

The show centres around a fictional rape trial in which 11 celebrities act as the jury and are left to decide whether the two alleged rapists are guilty or not.

Professor Liz Kelly, campaign chairwoman, said: “The Verdict is guilty of trivialising rape. This is reality television that misses much of the reality of rape – for example, the fact that most women are raped by someone they know.

“With rape rarely dealt with at any length by broadcasters, The Verdict is a missed opportunity to show the facts on rape. The bleak truth about rape is that little support or justice exists for women in this country.”

I can defnitely see Professor Kelly’s point and I know that many viewers would agree with her. But I have to say that watching this show has made me and I’m sure millions of other people realise how unfair the judicial system in this country is. If this was a real trial and those two men had committed rape, it would be very difficult to prove and the victim is made a victim all over again at the hand of barristers and the court. TV can change policy’s and laws, we have seen this before. If this show makes people more aware of the failings in the British Justice system, is that a bad thing?