New Home Office data has revealed that a mere 1.5 percent of rapes reported to police in England and Wales led to a charge or summons between April 2018 and March 2019, down from nearly 14 percent three years earlier. And an analysis released July 31 of rapes reported in London in April 2016 found that 6 percent made it to trial and only 3 percent resulted in conviction. This is despite a dramatic increase in the number of rape allegations reported to police during the same period.
The Home Office links the low likelihood that authorities will pursue legal action for sexual violence to the “greater complexity” of these investigations. But the data shows that many rape cases do not reach court because of “evidential difficulties,” including victims declining further action. It’s not hard to understand why, given what lies ahead if victims pursue justice.
Victims’ personal lives are subject to extreme, often humiliating, scrutiny. In England and Wales, this often includes unnecessarily invasive procedures that deter victims from pursuing justice. In a report released July 23, the civil liberties organization Big Brother Watch found that “the Crown Prosecution Service pressures police to collect masses of digital information on victims, regardless of its relevance to the investigation.” Such indiscriminate data collection – extracted from devices including mobile phones, smart watches, tablets, and laptops -- sweeps up highly personal and sensitive information such as text messages and photos, even potentially ones the user has deleted.
