Rapists could ‘get away’ with crimes after scheme ended
MORE rapists could get away with their crimes after a scheme that gave victims on Tyneside free legal help was scrapped.
That’s the stark warning of Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness, who is urging the Government to find cash to help.
Sex attack complainants in the Northumbria Police area had been offered independent legal advocacy as part of an innovative pilot scheme to help them get justice.
The scheme was launched in 2018 in response to concerns about the way victims of rape are often asked to hand over personal material after reporting an offence, something that does not happen with any other crime.
But despite helping almost 100 women the pilot, which had been funded by the Home Office’s Violence Against Women and Girls Service Transformation Fund, has come to an end after funding ran out.
And Ms McGuinness fears more sex attackers could walk free without this vital help for victims.
She said: “Without Government funding this local success story can’t continue. The Government is effectively pulling the plug on a project that has been proven to work for our area. It provides much needed and long due improvements to the criminal justice system – improvements that every single victim should benefit from.
“It’s clear we need a change in how our criminal justice system responds to sexual offences. Quite simply a system that doesn’t meet the needs of a victim is a system that will allow offenders to get away with their actions and walk the streets and this shouldn’t be allowed to happen.”
A report published this month, commissioned by Ms McGuinness, revealed that the pilot substantially improved best practice in police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) responses, and improved the overall victim experience.
Ms McGuinness says she hopes the findings of the evaluation report, by Dr Olivia Smith, a Criminology and Social Policy expert at Loughborough University, will help persuade the Government to provide new funding.
“The evaluation couldn’t be any clearer – there is a proven need for real change,” she said. “Victims need to be treated with respect and we need to improve conviction rates.
“We can only hope that the findings are the wake-up call the Government needs to ensure victims have access to support and the guidance they deserve as they journey through what can be a very complex and intimidating system.”
The evaluation report considers the support provided to complainants of rape in Northumbria by independent legal advocates over an 18 month period. Advocates predominantly supported complainants to ensure their privacy rights were protected.
The report also considers the responses to an online survey of 586 victims of sexual offences in England and Wales, 233 had reported the offence to the police and 353 had not. Most victims who reported offences said they were treated sensitively by the police at the point of reporting, but the rest of the process was insensitive and unfair.
Responding to the survey one victim, who reported in 2017 and whose perpetrator was acquitted at trial, said: “My sexuality was used against me, naked photos of me were shown to the court, his barrister even said to the jury he had just made a ‘mistake’ and that he could be any of their sons, or brothers.”
The survey also found that getting a conviction did not necessarily mean victims were satisfied with the process. One victim stated: “The outcome was not worth what I put myself through”.
As part of the research, Dr Smith examined the pilot scheme, which ran from 2018 until March this year, and found it improved victims’ experiences of the criminal justice system.
Currently, victims in England and Wales have no right to legal support and occasionally rely on charities if they need help understanding the rules around their rights.
Dr Smith said: “Around one in four women will be raped in England and Wales, but only around 17% will ever tell the police, and of those who do report, less than 2% will currently end in a conviction.
“Our research shows the huge emotional cost of reporting to police, and we need to find a way to change this. The changes that are needed are wide-reaching and must tackle, for example, racism and homophobia in the criminal justice system.
“One of the many changes should be the provision of legal advocacy, as it’s shown to work, and England and Wales are in danger of falling behind the rest of the world in how we treat sexual violence and abuse victims. This is about more than conviction rates. It is about dignified treatment regardless of outcome.”