Editor’s note: This story includes descriptions of rape and sexual assault. 

On Tuesday, a jury in Manhattan found former President Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming journalist E. Jean Carroll, and awarded her $5 million. In 2019, Carroll publicly accused Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room in 1996. Trump denied it and called her a liar, and Carroll sued him for defamation and rape in civil court.

Jane Manning, director of the Women’s Equal Justice Project and a former sex crimes prosecutor, talks about why rape is so difficult to prosecute and what this decision means.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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