Rape victims in England and Wales to be protected from ‘serial liar’ trope in legal shake-up

Exclusive: New laws will also curb questioning and aim to stop complainants being discredited over previous reports

Rape victims will no longer be depicted as serial liars in courtrooms in England and Wales as part of the biggest shake-up in a generation", the Guardian can reveal.

New measures will stop the profound injustice" of victims being questioned, sometimes without warning, about past rapes that they have reported to the police, said David Lammy, the justice secretary.