A major review of the way rape victims in England and Wales are treated has said a new approach is needed to give greater priority to their care and support.

The review's author, cross-bench peer Baroness Stern, was commissioned by ministers to examine how police, prosecutors and other bodies deal with complaints of rape.

Lady Stern told Today programme presenter that merely focussing on conviction rates was not enough and the system should focus on "caring for the victim much more as a whole person and what their needs are, rather than looking at the needs of the criminal justice system as a whole".

She also called for the appointment of special advisers to assist the victims of rape in their dealings with the criminal justice system.

Dabaleena Dasgupta, a solicitor who brings cases against the police when rape investigations are mishandled, also told the programme that rape victims might like greater support.

"But I think for a lot of them, what they really wanted was to know that the people who were there to support them and to help them -- in terms of the police, the CPS -- were actually doing their job and a lot of them felt they were failed," she said.

"And for a lot of those women they have said to me that was in part worse than the rape."