The Home Affairs Committee has published the Government’s
response to its report into the investigation and prosecution of
rape.
The report found that the collapse in prosecutions for rape and
sexual offences over the last five years could not be reversed
without strong reforms to the criminal justice system.
While it welcomed efforts to initiate change in the CPS, policing
and the court system, it warned that such reforms were localised
or in development and would require significant funding and
effective leadership to make an impact at national level.
It also warned that the current target of returning the volumes
of rape cases being dealt with to 2016 levels lacked ambition,
given that, even in 2016, criminal justice outcomes for rape were
viewed as poor.
The Committee expressed concern that confidence in the system’s
ability to even reach 2016 levels in the timeframe the Government
has set out is low.
The report called for a focus on the experience of victims
attempting to navigate the justice system. Lengthy delays in
cases reaching court, difficulties in accessing support services
and seemingly unnecessary and excessive requests for victims’
personal data from the police and the CPS needed to be addressed.
It also found that dedicated rape teams and specialist training
for officers made a real impact but such teams were yet to be set
up in many forces.
