as the director of public prosecutions, saunders has faced criticism and controversy around the handling of trials for rape and sexual assault. the cps has been criticised for the case of eleanor de freitas, who killed herself after the cps decided to take over a private prosecution brought against her by the man she accused of rape. saunders said that the "evidence in this case was strong and having considered it in light of all of our knowledge and guidance on prosecuting sexual offences and allegedly false rape claims, it is clear there was sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction for perverting the course of justice". saunders has also stated that the number of rape prosecutions being brought to court will increase by a third in the year 2015 and has argued that this increase follows improvements in the treatment received by victims by police, courts and the cps.