70% of rape claims are dropped by victims
NEARLY 70 per cent of women claiming they had been raped dropped out of the justice system in the last quarter of 2022, official figures have revealed.
Court delays, low conviction rates and fears of the trauma of reliving their torment in court meant 69.2 per cent withdrew complaints.
The figure compares with a 55.5 per cent dropout rate in 2016 and 66.9 per cent in 2021.
According to the Ministry of Justice figures, the number of rape cases outstanding in crown courts has more than tripled in four years to a record level of just over 2,000.
Broken
The number of sexual offences in England and Wales reached a record high of 193,566 in the year ending March 2022, other figures from the Office for National Statistics show.
Deniz Ugur, deputy director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “This data is further evidence of how our broken justice system mistreats survivors of violence against women and girls.
“Survivors of rape are being forced out of pursuing justice due to the overwhelming barriers they face, including lengthy waits of four to six years for court dates, discriminatory treatment, victim blaming and intrusive requests for their private counselling notes.
“Most survivors who report rape to the police won’t see charges brought against a perpetrator, let alone a conviction.
“The justice system is failing women while sexual offences are at the highest on record.
“Despite repeated assurances that transforming the system is a priority, the Government and its justice agencies are still light years away from meeting their own targets to increase prosecutions.
Unpunished
“The Government must listen to survivors and make sure the new Victims Bill transforms the justice system so that it upholds survivors’ rights through independent legal advice and legal protection for their private therapy notes.” Labour’s Shadow Justice Minister Ellie Reeves said delays meant a “high rate of rapists unpunished, leaving victims powerless and traumatised”.
Trials to support rape victims in the North East have reported improved victims experiences of the criminal justice system, police and Crown Prosecution Service.
The former Victims’ Commissioner Dame Vera Baird KC said 94.3 per cent of the professionals involved favoured a national rollout. She said: “Independent legal advice moderates police and CPS demands for complainants’ personal information, shortens investigations, supports complainants and cuts withdrawals.”
A Conservative Party spokesman did not address the number of cases which had been dropped, but instead claimed Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had failed rape victims in his five years as Director of Public Prosecutions.