From July 2023 to June 2024, 69,184 instances of rape were recorded by the police.1 Only 2.7% (or 3 in 100) of these cases led to charges, and the number of those charges that led to a conviction is even lower.2 And that’s just the tip of the iceberg—5 in 6 women and 4 in 5 men who are raped don’t report it at all, so will not be included in the 69,184.3 It’s therefore no mystery why people such as the former Victims Commissioner Dame Vera Baird believe that there has been an effective “decriminalisation of rape.”4 But how did we get to the point where rape, one of society’s most heinous crimes, is allowed to go unpunished in a country that claims to operate on justice and the rule of law? In order to answer this question, we must consider the ways in which multiple factors come together to create an intimidating process that deters victims from speaking out and makes securing convictions an uphill battle.
Many victims of rape are scared of even reporting the offence at all, given a response that is all too common from the police. It’s clear that there are cultural issues within the police and the way in which they interact with victims, which led to one victim going as far to say that, “nothing could have prepared me for the trauma I have experienced as a result of making a police report. I am more traumatised by the experience of being investigated for my own rape than I am by the rape itself.”5 According to the Operation Soteria Year One Report, “at worst, officers demonstrated explicit victim blaming and lack of belief in the victim, which impacted the subsequent investigation.”6 Shockingly, it also reported serving officers who “don’t think that [sexual offences] should be a priority for policing.”7 It’s therefore no surprise why 58% of respondents said their experience with police was worse than they expected,
1, 'Rape and sexual assault statistics' (RapeCrisis, ) <https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/statistics-sexual-violence/> accessed 22 January 2025 2 'Rape and sexual assault statistics' (RapeCrisis/, ) <https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/statistics-sexual-violence/> accessed 22 January 2025 3 'Rape and sexual assault statistics' (Https://rapecrisisorguk/get-informed/statistics-sexual-violence/, ) <https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/statistics-sexual-violence/> accessed 22 January 2025 4 Baird Vera, 'The distressing truth is that if you are raped in Britain today, your chances of seeing justice are slim' (Victims Commissioner , 22/June/2022) <https://victimscommissioner.org.uk/news/the-distressing-truth-is-that-if-you-are-raped-in-britain-today-your-chances-of-seeing-justice-are-slim/> accessed 22 January 202 5 '73% of rape survivors say police treatment worsened their mental health' (End Violence Against Women, 12/November/2024) <https://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/only-1-in-10-rape-survivors-would-report-to-the-police-again/> accessed 21/January/2025 6 Scathing report condemns police in England and Wales for ‘victim blaming’ in rape cases' (The Guardian, 12/November/2024) <https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/dec/15/scathing-report-condemns-uk-police-for-victim-blaming-in-cases> accessed 22/January/2025
and 73% reported that the experience worsened their mental health.8 Recent scandals such as the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer and the subsequent review that found that the Met was institutionally misogynistic have only further worsened the public’s perception of and trust in the police.9
If a case does, against the odds, get prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), victims often face a hostile and intimidating court process. This is largely due to the UK court’s adversarial system. Although the purpose is to ensure justice by clearly establishing guilt in order to minimise miscarriages of justice, it can also retraumatise victims and discourage them from pursuing legal action. It forces victims to recount a deeply traumatic experience in front of a jury, judge, and strangers. One victim described the experience of cross-examination “as traumatic as the rape, except with the added humiliation of a jury and a public gallery.”10 The stress of reliving such trauma, combined with the pressure of the courtroom, can lead victims to forget or misrepresent details. These genuine mistakes are often exploited by the defence, who may attempt to discredit the victim and undermine their reliability. Low prosecution rates can also be attributed to the inherent difficulties in proving rape, as DNA evidence can prove sexual intercourse but cannot prove or address the existence of consent. In these cases, the defence often relies on the argument that the victim consented, meaning that it’s often simply "her word against his." Given the nature of the adversarial system, which aims to challenge the victim’s credibility and demands a high threshold of evidence, it’s no surprise that many prosecutions fail. This not only results in a lack of convictions but also deters victims from coming forward in the first place.
The CPS often thwarts convictions before a case even reaches the courts. They will only prosecute when there is a “realistic prospect of conviction.” However, a former chief crown prosecutor noted that, in reality, “most CPS lawyers, especially in a rape case where they know the victim will get a hard time, probably set the bar at about a 75% chance of a conviction.”11 The long road to conviction leads to a “perverse incentive” to avoid charging
7 Scathing report condemns police in England and Wales for ‘victim blaming’ in rape cases' (The Guardian, 12/November/2024) <https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/dec/15/scathing-report-condemns-uk-police-for-victim-blaming-in-cases> accessed 20/January/2025 8 73% of rape survivors say police treatment worsened their mental health' (End Violence Against Women, 12/November/2024) <https://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/only-1-in-10-rape-survivors-would-report-to-the-police-again/> accessed 21/January/2025 9Dodd Vikram, 'Met police found to be institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic' (The Guardian, 21/March/2023) <https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/21/metropolitan-police-institutionally-racist-misogynistic-homophobic-louise-casey-report> accessed 24/January/2025 10 Fox John , 'Why do so many men get away with rape? Police officers, survivors, lawyers and prosecutors on the scandal that shames the justice system' (Portacuk, 24/November/2022) <https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/blogs/building-an-inclusive-and-growth-led-economy-and-society/why-do-so-many-men-get-away-with-rape-police-officers-survivors-lawyers-and-prosecutors-on-the-scandal-that-shames-the-justice-system> accessed 20/January/2025 11Fox John , 'Why do so many men get away with rape? Police officers, survivors, lawyers and prosecutors on the scandal that shames the justice system' (Portacuk, 24/November/2022) <https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/blogs/building-an-inclusive-and-growth-led-economy-and-society/why-do-so-many-men-get-away-with-rape-police-officers-survivors-lawyers-and-prosecutors-on-the-scandal-that-shames-the-justice-system> accessed 20/January/2025
know the victim will get a hard time, probably set the bar at about a 75% chance of a conviction.”12 The long road to conviction leads to a “perverse incentive” to avoid charging rape cases, as prosecutors fear that they will be criticised for cases that are withdrawn.13 The CPS also imposes more stringent requirements for rape cases, demanding a full evidence file from police before charging. According to a detective sergeant, “it takes about 200 hours to prepare a full file, so […] if they anticipate the CPS will reject it anyway, there is a lot of pressure to just tick a box on a form - 'insufficient evidence - and get rid of the problem that way.”14 In contrast, the CPS accepts “abbreviated” evidence files for other crimes, allowing further evidence to be submitted later. This rule forces police to take more statements and can even mean that potentially thousands of phone messages have to be viewed at great expense to both the police and the victim. This process demonstrates the ways in which systematic court issues and flaws in policing interact with the CPS and all come together to result in an adversarial system that limits prosecutions.
In conclusion, the rape prosecution crisis cannot be attributed to a single factor. Its severity is caused by multiple flaws within the CPS, police, and courts, which interact with each other to create a complex system that intimidates and humiliates victims throughout the process. To begin to solve the issue, it’s clear that every component of the system needs a total overhaul regarding how they interact with victims. A huge increase in funding will also be required to implement the changes necessary to restore victims’ faith in the justice system.
12 Fox John , 'Why do so many men get away with rape? Police officers, survivors, lawyers and prosecutors on the scandal that shames the justice system' (Portacuk, 24/November/2022) <https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/blogs/building-an-inclusive-and-growth-led-economy-and-society/why-do-so-many-men-get-away-with-rape-police-officers-survivors-lawyers-and-prosecutors-on-the-scandal-that-shames-the-justice-system> accessed 20/January/202 13 Fox John , 'Why do so many men get away with rape? Police officers, survivors, lawyers and prosecutors on the scandal that shames the justice system' (Portacuk, 24/November/2022) <https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/blogs/building-an-inclusive-and-growth-led-economy-and-society/why-do-so-many-men-get-away-with-rape-police-officers-survivors-lawyers-and-prosecutors-on-the-scandal-that-shames-the-justice-system> accessed 20/January/2025
Bibliography
Baird DV, ‘The Distressing Truth Is That If You Are Raped in Britain Today, Your Chances of Seeing Justice Are Slim’ (Victims Commissioner22 June 2022) <https://victimscommissioner.org.uk/news/the-distressing-truth-is-that-if-you-are-raped-in-britain-today-your-chances-of-seeing-justice-are-slim/>
Dodd V, ‘Met Police Found to Be Institutionally Racist, Misogynistic and Homophobic’ The Guardian (21 March 2023) <https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/21/metropolitan-police-institutionally-racist-misogynistic-homophobic-louise-casey-report>
Fox J, ‘Why Do so Many Men Get Away with Rape? Police Officers, Survivors, Lawyers and Prosecutors on the Scandal That Shames the Justice System’ (University of Portsmouth29 November 2022) <https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/blogs/building-an-inclusive-and-growth-led-economy-and-society/why-do-so-many-men-get-away-with-rape-police-officers-survivors-lawyers-and-prosecutors-on-the-scandal-that-shames-the-justice-system>
Rape Crisis England and Wales, ‘Statistics about Sexual Violence and Abuse’ (Rape Crisis England & Wales2024) <https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/statistics-sexual-violence/>
Topping A, ‘Scathing Report Condemns Police in England and Wales for “Victim Blaming” in Rape Cases’ (The Guardian15 December 2022) <https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/dec/15/scathing-report-condemns-uk-police-for-victim-blaming-in-cases>
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