A damning official review of how police forces deal with rape has highlighted persistent failings in the criminal justice system, including a failure to track repeat suspects, “explicit victim blaming” and botched investigations.
The long-awaited independent report into the first year of Operation Soteria Bluestone, released by the government after a catastrophic fall in rape prosecutions, also paints a picture of an overworked, traumatized and inexperienced police workforce in England and Wales, which is struggling. to deal with rising allegations of abuse after years of austerity.
The report, whose findings have been accepted by the Home Office, analyzes 80,000 allegations of rape from five bodies, includes in-depth police data and reveals detailed discussions with officers. It is one of the first times academics have had access to a range of police files and have worked with select forces to understand how investigations are progressing.
It comes as the Ministry of Justice said the latest figures showed “significant improvements” 18 months after the government’s rape review into the rape prosecution crisis. The Ministry of Justice said police referrals to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) rose by 95%, cases prosecuted by two-thirds and the number of cases going to court increased by 91% compared to the quarterly averages for 2019. In 2019 there were 2,102 prosecutions. – the lowest level recorded.
But the 191-page report, which contains anonymous evidence from police officers, will make uncomfortable reading for police leaders and government ministers.
The report said officers lacked specialized understanding and, while some did not rely on inaccurate perceptions of victims’ credibility, “the overwhelming direction of travel [was] they still depend on an imprecise understanding of victims and offenders”.
He stated: “In the worst cases, officers demonstrated explicit victim guilt and a lack of belief in the victim, which affected the subsequent investigation. For example, the credibility of the victims was often focused on and s ‘used to close or not investigate cases within some forces’.
The academics also found serving officers who “don’t think that [sexual offences] it should be a priority for the police.”
“Some stated that they believed that most rape allegations are just examples of ‘sad sex,’ or that if the victims presented with additional problems such as mental health issues or alcohol/substance misuse, this was the problem of the victim and the legal system was not obliged to safeguard them”, states the report.
The report angered women’s groups with Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women coalition, saying it exposed “the underbelly of the police and the extent to which the police are failing women and girls”. Jayne Butler, CEO of Rape Crisis England and Wales, said it revealed “the most basic of mistakes”.
The report also found that checks to see if suspects had already been reported were not always carried out, despite investigators finding that across the five forces more than half of the named suspects had criminal records for a range of of crimes and one in four had committed it. history of sexual assault.
The report highlights that officers are struggling to cope with the workload and the emotional trauma and support required. A bespoke survey found burnout was higher than among NHS staff during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
None of the forces had the necessary “data systems, analysts or analytical capability” and several found vacancies for specialist sex crime units difficult to fill, the report said. An officer who used to work in the CID said he used to consider sexual offense cases “‘pink and fluffy’ cases as they were victim-centred, and he avoided them in favor of burglary and theft”.
The disbanding of specialist units during austerity had led to a “de-professionalisation of the role of investigating rape and other sexual offences” and a lack of learning and development “undermines the ability of any force to improve officers”.
Inexperience was common in the five forces examined. One officer said: “I think my shift is only 80% people with less than two years of service. And when a sexual offense job comes in, there’s almost this panic like, ‘Oh my God, what am I doing? ?”.
Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertisements and content funded by third parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
The report also provides rarely seen in-depth data on the tens of thousands of cases it examined. Around a third of police-recorded rapes examined were also found to be related to domestic abuse, rape charge rates varied between local police areas within pilot forces and charge rates they were lower for cases involving partners and ex-partners.
Joint chief academic officer Professor Betsy Stanko said the report was “harsh reading” but said the forces involved had been brave. “I have been amazed at the courage and honesty of many officers who are determined to change this area of work,” he said.
“At the moment, it’s not getting worse, it’s getting better. The conversation we sparked has made people think about what they’re doing and how they could improve.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the report showed “there are huge hurdles to overcome”, but said there were early signs of improvement, adding: “I am determined to take advantage of these to deliver sustainable change in the way rape is investigated.”
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said the government had launched a 24/7 rape and sexual abuse helpline, allowed victims to pre-record evidence and introduce a new approach to police investigations “which focuses on the behavior of the suspect rather than the victim”.
Reacting to the report, Labour’s shadow justice secretary Steve Reed said that after 12 years under the Tories, women “did not feel safe” and that “sexual violence and rape have been effectively decriminalized”.
Chief Constable Sarah Crew, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for adult sex offences, said her force in Avon and Somerset, which first introduced the pilot and implemented changes based on the academics’ findings, had increased its rate of adult rape charges from 3% to 3%. more than 10%.
“Uncovering deep, systemic problems within policing is the first major milestone in achieving the transformative change needed to improve the police response to rape,” he said. “Everyone in the police recognizes that we have to do better and this program has been met with a real willingness and openness to change.”