Beaten by court backlogs and conviction myths, rape victims are giving up on justice

Martha Gill

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Rape is notoriously easy to get away with, even when it is reported to the police. Some of this can be explained by the crime itself.

Witnesses tend to be limited to accuser and complainant. Evidence can be scant, especially if reporting is delayed. And, as the stakes are so high, the accused tend to flatly deny their involvement rather than plead guilty. Often, too, the victim knows the attacker, which can make the reporting process particularly upsetting, and puts pressure on them to withdraw their accusations.

But in other ways rape has a head start on other offences. One is that identification is easy. Unlike in cases of theft or fraud, most victims can supply the name and even the address of their attacker. Independent evidence may be hard to get - many crimes happen behind closed doors or away from security cameras. Prosecution and conviction rates are higher for nonsexual domestic abuse, for example. So what is the problem?

Two recent findings highlight points at which rape victims are failed along the way. This week, a report into the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which bridges the gap between police reports and cases going to court, finds that prosecutors fully met standards in only 23% of cases. They are supposed to focus on the suspect's behaviours and actions - but too often, the report says, they focus on those of the victim. Inspectors also found "coercive control" or "abusive behaviour" went unrecognised: without important context, prosecutors can dismiss the wrong cases.