Government not doing enough to tackle fall in rape prosecutions

Work with offenders on today’s report by the Home Affairs Committee

The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee has today published its report into the collapse in rape prosecutions over recent years. While the Committee welcomes the work being done by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to try to reverse what it calls a “precipitous” fall in prosecutions over the last five years, it sets out a strong warning that in many cases reforms are localised or still in development and will require significant funding to make an impact at a national level.

The statistics

Police forces in England and Wales recently recorded the highest ever number of rapes within a 12-month period, yet only 1.3% of the recorded rape offences that have been assigned an outcome resulted in a charge or summons. The statistics on rape prosecutions are stark:

• In the year to September 2021 there were 63,136 rape offences recorded – an all-time high
• The number of completed rape prosecutions dropped from 5,190 in 2016/17 to 1,557 in 2020/21
• The trauma of going through investigations and lengthy delays may have contributed to 63% of adult rape investigations being closed between July and September 2021 because the victim no longer wished to continue.

The Committee is critical of the Government’s Rape Review which sets out its strategy for reversing this drastic decline in rape charges and prosecutions. The Committee says the strategy, lacks ambition, protesting at the target to return to 2016 prosecution levels by 2024.

The Committee argues that, while this would reverse a steep decline, it would merely be going back to a level that was widely regarded as poor. The Committee also said that it had little confidence that this target will be achieved.

The impact of rape

The Committee is keen to publicise the human cost of the lack of prosecutions. It says that the impact of rape on victims and survivors is devastating; citing the Crime Survey for England and Wales in which 63% of female victims and 47% of male victims said they had suffered ‘mental or emotional problems’ as a result of the assault. Around one in ten said they had attempted suicide.

Strikingly, those victims and survivors who shared their experiences and views with the Committee also emphasised the negative impact of going through the criminal justice system itself. One person told the Committee that they wished they had never reported their rape; another, that if a friend told her they had been raped, she would not advise them to go to the police because of the stress and upset that can cause.

Another survivor told the Committee that the investigation had, ‘completely destroyed my life and changed me forever’. People who had experienced going through the criminal justice system following sexual violence told the Committee they felt like they were being investigated rather than the suspect.

Both complainants and defendants face long delays in the progression of their cases as well, which no doubt account for the fact that some complainants decide to protect themselves from further distress and withdraw from the system entirely. The Committee says that the fact that the majority of cases are closed because the victim themselves does not support further action is a powerful indictment in itself.

Conclusions & Recommendations

The Committee argues that it is vital that victims and survivors of rape are provided with comprehensive services to support them during the investigation and prosecution process, as well as specialist counselling and therapy. It recommends a comprehensive mapping and monitoring exercise  to gauge the provision of specialist services across the country. 

The Committee proposes the creation of a dedicated commissioner to act as an advocate for the interests of victims of sexual violence and abuse, or expanding the responsibilities of an existing commissioner, presumably the Victims’ Commissioner.

The Committee also recommends that every police force should have a specialist rape team (currently at least 40% forces do not). 

The Committee says that the Crown Prosecution Service needs to improve how it communicates with victims, saying that it should aim to develop better mechanisms for two-way engagement so that there is an opportunity to ask questions, rather than relying on letters.

Finally, the Committee calls for more accountability. While it welcomes the fact that key agencies involved in the investigation and prosecution of rape are developing action plans to improve performance, it notes that there is currently no single individual or body to ensure that the necessary transformation takes place. 

What forces say

Chiefs made clear they want clear improvements that will sustain rather than quick fixes as years of problems had brought forces to this point.

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Rape and Serious Sexual Assault, Chief Constable Sarah Crew said: "We recognise there is still much to do, and work is well underway to improve the policing response, including through the Soteria Bluestone programme. This is a unique and innovative collaboration between police and leading academics to develop a new evidence-based and transformational approach to the investigation of rape.

"We understand change isn't happening fast enough, but this is an opportunity to bring about real and sustainable change to the handling of these traumatic offences, to transform the victim experience and bring more perpetrators to justice."