The conviction rate for rape in Scottish courts has fallen to its lowest in a decade.

The proportion of people prosecuted last year who were found guilty of rape or attempted rape fell to 39%, down 10% in 12 months.

There were 1878 crimes reported to police in 2016/17, but only 98 convictions.

Rape Crisis Scotland said it is time to abolish the need for corroboration, where two independent sources of evidence are needed to bring a conviction.

Chief executive Sandy Brindley said: "Rape is a crime which can take a great deal of courage to report and the past decade has seen increasing numbers of women and men coming forward to report what has happened to them to the police.

"The vast majority of reported rapes never make it to court and the most common reason rape survivors are given for this is the requirement in Scotland for corroboration.

"This disproportionately affects rape cases, and we believe that the time has come to look again at removing the requirement for corroboration."

Justice secretary Michael Matheson pledged the government will attempt to strengthen the law "where possible".

"While the relatively low conviction rate for rape reflects, in part, the challenging evidential requirements to prove this crime," he said.

"The government will continue to seek to strengthen the law where possible and how such cases are dealt with.

"Since last April judges are required to direct juries in certain sexual offence cases on how to consider evidence - specifically explaining why a victim may not physically resist their attacker, nor report an offence immediately."

Conviction rates are highest for motoring offences, with 93% of people proceeded against last year convicted. They are lowest for rape and attempted rape.

However, these crimes also attracted the longest average sentences.

A Crown Office spokesman said: "While prosecuting sexual offences can be complex and challenging and there has been a fall in the number of convictions from the previous year, the number of convictions for rape and attempted rape has nearly tripled since 2010/11 and we would encourage those who have been victims of a sexual crime to come forward."

It is unclear how many of the 1878 rapes and attempted rapes reported to police were referred to the Crown Office.

Meanwhile, some of the 98 cases which did result in a conviction may have been reported to the Crown before 2016/17.

Conviction rates are calculated by dividing the number of people convicted by the number of people proceeded against in court.