Britain's top prosecutor has called new guidelines for child sex abuse cases "the most fundamental attitude shift" in the criminal justice system in a generation.
The advice includes a list of myths and stereotypes about victims that prosecutors may need to battle in court, such as claims being undermined by a delay in reporting a crime, inconsistencies in what the victim remembers and whether they were drunk or wearing revealing clothes.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said: "For too long, child sexual abuse cases have been plagued by myths about how 'real' victims behave which simply do not withstand scrutiny. The days of the model victim are over.
"From now on these cases will be investigated and prosecuted differently, whatever the vulnerabilities of the victim."
Director of Public Prosecutions Kier Starmer The guidelines cover how victims should be treated and how a case should be built and presented in court.
They were drawn up after a number of high profile and controversial sex crime cases.
These included sex abuse gangs that operated in Rochdale and Oxford, as well as the missed chance to prosecute Jimmy Savile in 2009.
More recently, a row erupted after a prosecutor called a 13-year-old victim "predatory".
Alison Worsley, deputy director of strategy at Barnardo's, said: "A wholesale shift in attitudes is required throughout the legal system when dealing with the child victims of sexual exploitation and these guidelines are a step towards achieving that."
MP Ann Coffey, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children, said aggressive cross-examination by defence barristers also needs to be tackled.
She said: "These new rules for prosecutors are massively important and welcome but the main problem for child victims is aggressive cross examination by defence barristers who set out to humiliate and destroy them.
"Barristers in child sex abuse cases must be stopped from manipulating child witnesses like puppets in the witness box.
"It is often not really cross examination of evidence at all, but is about smearing and breaking down the witness to get defendants off the hook."
Jessica Standley, an Abuse Lawyer at Slater & Gordon who are representing 72 of Savile's victims, welcomed the fact that the guidelines acknowledge victims may have come from difficult backgrounds.
She said: "People who have suffered a tough past are no less credible than anyone else."
Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry said it is not clear how much of the guidance will actually get used in practice.
:: Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer will be live on Sky News at 7.30am. Watch on Sky 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202, Freeview 82, Skynews.com and Sky News for iPad
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