Police charging just 1.5 per cent of rape suspects
ALMOST all alleged rapists and sex offenders go free, with just one in 66 reports of rape resulting in charges.
Survivors are being failed by the criminal justice system, Rape Crisis campaigners said yesterday.
Police noted 56,152 alleged rapes in the year to September but analysis showed just 1.5 per cent of reported cases produced a charge. For all sex offences, the ratio was 3.6 per cent.
Shameful
Survivors want a transformation in the response to abuse claims, said an MPs’ report, with two fifths claiming they were not taken seriously.
Dame Vera Baird QC, Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, said: “If you are raped in Britain today, your chances of seeing justice are slim.
“We have seen a catastrophic fall in rape prosecutions. Just 1.5 per cent of cases result in a charge. More than 98 per cent of cases do not reach court.
“This is shameful. Rape is often a serial offence and rapists carry on until they are stopped.”
She said the Crown Prosecution Service “failed to offer any convincing explanation” for the fall in cases. Katie Russell, of Rape Crisis, said: “Our system is failing those who’ve been subjected to some of the most traumatic crimes it is possible to survive.The situation must be treated as an urgent priority.”
The Crown Prosecution Service denies making major changes over charging rape suspects. The sex crime details were among figures issued by Whitehall. They also showed domestic abuse rose by 10 per cent in the year to September with 842,813 cases.