Being back at the University of Glasgow fills Ellie Wilson with mixed emotions. While studying for a politics degree five years ago, the 25-year-old was raped by her then-boyfriend Daniel McFarlane. Stirring ice in a plastic tumbler of coffee on the hottest day of the year, she tells me about her three-year ordeal to secure a conviction. “I’m really proud of everything I achieved at university, but it was one of the most difficult times of my life. I was gaslit, manipulated and I lost sight of myself.”
In Scotland, 51 per cent of rape and attempted rape trials result in conviction—compared to a 91 per cent overall conviction rate. Rape in a relationship is less likely to lead to jail time than cases involving strangers, although most rapes against women are carried out by someone they know.
Still, Wilson did manage to convict her assailant on two counts of rape after covertly recording him confessing to one of the attacks. Following the court hearing in 2022, she made the bold decision to waive her right to anonymity. She’s since used TikTok and Twitter to highlight flaws in the criminal justice system that leave rape survivors vulnerable and unsupported.
“Once the dust settled, I went through a secondary depression, thinking, ‘What do I do now?’ Campaigning became an outlet for pain and frustration.”
During the court hearing, Wilson’s sexual history was aired by the defence advocate, despite legislation in place in Scotland to protect complainants from questioning that could cause psychological harm. “It all comes back to misogyny. I was really conscious about what I wore during the trial because I didn’t want to look sexually appealing. I had to temper my outfits so I looked ‘pretty’ but not ‘sexual’.” In order to later pursue a complaint against the advocate, she was charged £3,000 to access her court transcripts, which she had to crowdfund over the internet.
Her campaigning is working: already the Scottish government has committed to a pilot for free court transcripts for victims in Scottish courts. Wilson is now rallying for better safeguarding policies across UK universities after her perpetrator was allowed to re-enrol at Edinburgh University without disclosing his arrest. “A lot of young people struggle to recognise domestic violence because they think it can only happen if they’re older and living with the person. TikTok has helped me to change perceptions.”
Campaigning became an outlet for pain and frustration
She argues that the system is failing people like her: “It took two years between me reporting the crime to the police for the court hearing to happen.” The charity Rape Crisis reports that adult rape cases in England and Wales take on average more than two years to complete in court, with a record number on the waiting list. Although Wilson was struggling with suicidal thoughts, she was offered two “not very good” counselling sessions while waiting for the trial. “I would have liked more psychological support.”
Wilson believes we’re “not talking enough” about the “financial impact” of rape. As well as her £3,000 transcript cost, she had to cover other expenses. “As a result of what I went through, I attempted to take my own life and had to resit a year of university, which gave me another year of student debt and a year of not working. If my assailant is released on licence next year [McFarlane was sentenced to five years in jail], I’ll need to have a deposit saved to move house for my safety.”
Three years after reporting the crime, the police still have Wilson’s mobile phone. “A replacement can cost £1,000, so you’re essentially paying a £1,000 tax for reporting your rape to the police.”
Although she will continue to campaign for a better system, she has no desire to go into politics. “I don’t want women’s fundamental human rights to become a partisan political issue. Instead, I’ll do what I can to make the system easier for the thousands of women that will navigate it after me.”
