Do rape shield laws provide a good way to address the problem of underreporting sex crimes?

I would argue that rape shield laws provide an important,
but incomplete, way to address the problem of underreporting of sex crimes.  There would
surely be more unreported crimes without such laws, but the laws do not completely
prevent underreporting.

Rape shield laws do help encourage
women to come forward and report crimes because they protect women from having their
sexual history become an issue during a trial.  This spares
women from being grilled in court about their past.  However, these laws cannot prevent
the media, for example, from discussing a woman's sexual history.  This would be an
embarassing thing and is likely to deter women from reporting crimes.  Rape shield laws
also do not protect women from the possibility of retaliation if they report that they
have been raped by an acquaintance.

For these reasons, rape
shield laws are important, but they do not completely solve the problem of
underreporting of sex crimes.