That anxiety motivated Sarah Lee and Kayla Poulton, who has also been through the court process, to do something that might help to remove some of the stress for others in a similar position.
They’ve set up a new campaign called CourtRobe which asks high street department stores in Scotland to donate vouchers or clothing and give staff specialist training to help women dress for court.
The women are working with the Emma Ritch Law Clinic at the University of Glasgow to develop the project.
For them, it’s about empowerment.
Kayla, 36, said: “For me it was, do I wear a dress? If I wear a dress, do I look too provocative? Do I wear heels? Then I got suit trousers and a blouse and then I was so worried that the blouse was going to be see-through.
“You just overthink. You don’t want people to think, oh, she deserved that. Oh, if she dressed like that, then, well, she deserved it.
“That’s a really scary part and that’s where we want to empower women and for them to just feel confident enough to go in and be who they are.”
