The UK justice system has failed to rape victims, the government says

LONDON Thousands of victims of rape and sexual assault have failed the criminal justice system, according to a British Government Review released Friday that cited a dramatic drop in sentences in England and Wales in recent years, prompting an apology from government ministers.

In an interview with the BBC, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said the findings of the review revealed systematic failures to deal with complaints made by victims at all stages of the criminal justice process.

He added: The first thing I think I have to say is bad, not good enough. Weve had to do much better.

The review, which covered only cases with adult victims but acknowledged that children and young people were also subject to sexual assault, was commissioned in March 2019 by the Conservative government. The review aimed to address the decline in rape prosecutions, which the Ministry of Justice said fell 59 percent, and the sentences, which have fallen by 47 percent, from 2015-2016.

In that period, reported adult rape increased to 43,187 from 24,093, according to the Office for National Statistics the numbers cited in the report.

But the government estimates that less than 20 percent of rape cases are reported to the police and that the number of victims is about 128,000 a year. Of the reported cases, which the statistics office said involved women in 84 per cent of cases, only 1.6 per cent resulted in one accused person, according to the Interior Ministry.

The report came as Britain grapples with a national account of men’s violence against women that erupted in Mars after a police officer was arrested in the murder of a young woman, Sarah Everard. Officer Wayne Couzens, 48, pleaded guilty to raping and kidnapping Ms. Everard this month.

In a report released Friday, Mr Buckland, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Attorney General Michael Ellis said they were deeply ashamed of the drop in rape prosecutions and the fact that one in two victims withdrew. from rape investigations.

The review also found that the reasons for the decline of cases going to court are complex and wide-ranging, including an increase in required digital personal data, delays in investigative processes, strained relations between different parts of the criminal justice system, lack of of specialized resources and inconsistent support for victims.

Emily Hunt, an independent review consultant who was herself a rape victim, said in the report that the low level of prosecution cannot be attributed to possible false allegations, which government data suggest make up up to 3 per cent of rape charges.

Katie Russell, national spokeswoman for Rape Crisis, a charity that is part of a coalition of women’s groups called End of Violence Against Women, welcomed governments’ acceptance of their catastrophic failures.

However, she said, the decline in prosecutions could not be calculated solely from cuts in funding and resources, for which Mr. Buckland alluded to his interview with the BBC.

It is clear that there are broader cultural issues and issues of the current functioning of the criminal justice system, related to rape and sexual offenses, said Ms. Russell.

The review acknowledged that rape victims were poorly treated. In some cases, while trying to deal with the psychological damage of reporting their rapes, they were informed that their cases would not be dealt with further, sometimes without explanation.

Bonny Turner, a sexual assault activist who has been made public regarding her experience with an investigation into her rape allegations in 2016, which was dropped by prosecutors due to insufficient evidence, said the findings of the reports came as little consolation.

The report made no reference to how the government would rectify the situation with us who have already failed, she said. It is as if they feel as if they think they can simply escape with an apology but no action to support it.

The government said in the review that it would push for a cultural shift in police and between prosecutors to return the number of rape cases in court to pre-2016 levels.

The government added that sexual assault investigations would focus on the behavioral patterns of the accused assailants and try to avoid undermining the victims’ credibility, a failure highlighted in the report.

Citing rape victims who felt traumatized by having their phones taken and examined during the investigation, the review said the victims would no longer be left without their equipment for more than 24 hours.

Unprotected victims will also be allowed to record video evidence in advance instead of being forced to endure the trauma of giving public testimony during trials.

Vera Baird, the victim commissioner for England and Wales, an independent government adviser welcomed the ministers’ pardon for what she described as a bleak record.

She said the government had taken a long time to deal with what the victims had been saying for years, adding that the review highlighted numerous missed opportunities. Despite its clear limitations, we must seize this moment if we are to escape this crisis in our justice system. I really hope this review takes us forward. In fact, it may not get much worse.