Written by Amy Beecham
New data paints an extremely bleak picture of the landscape of sexual violence in Britain.
Sexual crimes including rape, stalking, spiking and domestic abuse have reached a record high in England and Wales.
Police-recorded sexual offences increased to their highest level over a 12-month period, with 183,587 in the year to December 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics, representing a 22% increase on 2020 and 13% on 2019.
37% of offences recorded were rapes, which rose 21% from 55,592 in the year to December 2020.
High-profile cases such as the murder of Sarah Everard and Operation Hotton, the investigation that found rape threats within the Metropolitan police, may have contributed to greater public awareness and record levels of victims coming forward. But while crimes have reached an all time high, the number of completed rape prosecutions plummeted to just 1,557 in the 2020-2021 period.
“Longest ever” delays are thought to be to blame for almost two-thirds of adult rape investigations being dropped, because the victim wants to discontinue the case after receiving poor support or waiting too long for justice.
This was confirmed earlier in the year by a Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate which declared that “change is needed now” after multiple failures of the system, such as “poor and fragmented” communication with victims and “inconsistent” police support, were investigated.
The “unacceptably low” number of convictions for sexual crimes have been repeatedly condemned by MPs and campaigners, with the government called on to do more in the wake of serious questioning over the failure to tackle violence against women.
Vera Baird, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, said the contrast between reports and prosecutions left the government with “little hope” of reaching its goal of returning to 2016-17 prosecution levels of 5,190 cases a year.
“Record levels of victims are coming forward, but the charging rate remains in the doldrums. The marked increase in victim reporting is simply not translating into increased referrals and charges,” Baird said.
“Close to a year since the publication of the government’s end-to-end rape review, we are yet to see any substantive improvement. The government’s promise to return to 2016-17 levels of prosecutions by the end of this parliament remains a pipe dream.”
Sexual assault referral centres provide a safe space and dedicated care for people who have been raped, sexually assaulted, or abused. If you have been raped, sexually assaulted or abused and don’t know where to turn, search “sexual assault referral centres” to find out more or visit www.nhs.uk/SARCs to find your nearest service.
Images: Getty
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