When rape victim Julia Mason faced her attacker in the witness box, he was wearing the same jumper and jeans that he assaulted her in.

Not only that, he cross-examined her for six days, which Julia said was like being raped all over again.

Julie, 34, faced her attacker for the second time at a trial at the Old Bailey three years ago.

This is just one of the many cases reported nationally where rape defendants can legally provide their own defence and cross-examine their victims. And, although Julia's attacker was convicted, she waived her right to anonymity to highlight the loophole in the law. That is exactly why Oxford's Young Women's Christian Association has been campaigning to improve the rights of rape victims, in a justice system that is blatantly failing them.

And, such is the force of their campaign, that the subject is being debated in the House Of Commons this week.

At the moment, only one in ten reported rapes secures a conviction.

These are the figures that have been firing up YWCA campaign officer Monisha Bhaumik in the charity's headquarters in Cornmarket Street.

"The figures are terrible. In 1977, the rape conviction rate was 32 per cent. Now it's less than ten per cent. Research has shown that lots of women don't report rape at all because they know the legal system is stacked against them and can't be bothered to fight it. It's still very Victorian "To put it bluntly, the convictions are low because the court experience is so awful for the victim.

"The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Bill is being pushed through Parliament at the moment and goes a long way to addressing these issues.

The first point is preventing suspected rapists or sex offenders from cross-examining their victims, the thought of which has put a lot of women off taking action, by removing their right to defend themselves.

The second is to allow rape victims to be given the automatic right to give evidence behind screens or by videolink, so they don't have to face their attackers.

And lastly the bill aims to stop a victim's sexual history being used against her.

YWCA researcher Kate Cook said two classic examples of this were when a white woman, who was raped by a black man, was asked in court the colour of her previous boyfriends to see if she was predisposed to sleeping with black men. Or the woman who was raped in a car and asked whether she had had sex in a car before, and therefore liked it. "Consent is the main problem. There is usually evidence that sex took place and, therefore, the defence try to prove that the woman wanted it to take place. There is no definition of consent at the moment, which is something else we are trying to get changed," Monisha said.

"At the moment, the law is unfair against women. Many describe the court proceedings as second rape. It is one of the most traumatic crimes, yet one of the least likely to get a conviction.

"Much of the proceedings are left to the discretion of the courts, which means if the case goes to appeal the defence use any leniency against the victim as a reason to get the case thrown out."

So why has it taken so long for anything to be done?

Monisha explained: "People have been campaigning for years, but nothing was done until the Labour Government pledged to get the ball rolling when it came to power. Employing specialist prosecutors in sexual offences cases is another avenue the YWCA hope will be taken up. It's already being used in some parts of South Africa where convictions increased by 30 per cent.

The YWCA was one of the main organisations which started the campaign by lobbying parliament on March 10, and on Thursday, the bill will be debated for the first time.

One might imagine these changes in the law were not only obvious and vital but long-overdue, yet the bill has already been criticised by the House of Lords.

"Many of them said they didn't think there was anything wrong with the present system," said Monisha.

"That is why we want to make sure everyone knows what's going on and highlight this campaign."

The YWCA is canvassing MPs, has placed adverts in women's magazines and launched a poster campaign.

Kay Jenkinson, YWCA communications officer, said: "It's the biggest campaign we've run since I've been here."

Monisha added: "I am hopeful. We have already got a lot of support and the situation can't be ignored anymore,"

To pledge your support, call the YWCA on 01865 304213.

Story date: Monday 12 April

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.