Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take
(1) to increase the number of rape prosecutions, and (2) to
provide more support for women and men affected by rape.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice
() (Con)
My Lords, the 2021 End-to-End Rape Review Action Plan committed
us to double the number of adult rape cases reaching court by the
end of this Parliament, back to 2016 levels. We have since seen
an increase in both prosecutions and convictions. Actions taken
include establishing the criminal justice dashboard; funding
Operation Soteria, making police investigation suspect-focused;
providing the rape and sexual abuse support fund; launching a
24/7 rape and sexual abuse support line; and completing the
rollout of pre-recorded cross-examination, so that victims no
longer must face the courtroom but can be cross-examined
beforehand.
(Lab)
I thank the Minister, but under this Government, conviction rates
for rape have reached historic lows, with only 1.3% of recorded
rapes resulting in a charge. MoJ data from June of this year
showed that 28% of 53,000 outstanding Crown Court cases were for
alleged sexual offences, with up to five years before anything
reaches the court. Some 65% of cases analysed in London last year
ended in victim withdrawal, revealing a lack of high-quality
victim care in the justice system. What other plans do the
Government have to improve this shocking situation?
(Con)
My Lords, first and with respect, we are making progress on this
matter. Your Lordships will perhaps recall that, after 2016 and
the Allan case, where a prosecution collapsed for lack of
disclosure, prosecutions for rape fell until 2019. Then we had
the pandemic. That is why the Government are now committed to
returning to 2016 levels.
I will give one example of progress. In 2016, a total of 766 rape
cases per quarter were referred by the police to the CPS. In Q2
2022, we had 901 such referrals, up on 2019 by 97% and even up on
2016 by 18%. Many other examples can be seen on the criminal
justice system delivery data dashboard at justice.gov.uk, to
which I respectfully refer your Lordships. You can see the
progress we are making on every offence, across every region of
the country. That is a considerable achievement and I commend it
to your Lordships. In response to the noble Baroness, I do not
doubt that difficulties remain, but we are making progress.
(Lab)
My Lords, an accusation of rape is a very serious matter for both
the victim and the accused. I have repeatedly asked for a
breakdown of figures for rape cases where the defence is consent
and where there is a failure to convict—a situation of which I
have long experience. Will the Minister go back to the
Attorney-General, who supervises the CPS, to ask why these
figures cannot be provided? This may be the heart of the
problem.
(Con)
I will certainly do my best to accommodate the noble and learned
Lord.
(LD)
My Lords, many victims of rape are reluctant to follow through on
prosecutions because they need medical and other care, and they
want to be believed. A report from over 20 years ago by a
policeman whom we may know, one , and the academic Betsy
Stanko, led to the establishment of sexual assault referral
centres across England. But this year, an NHS survey found that
72% of victims are unaware that this support is available. If
more victims knew about and used these centres, would more
successful prosecutions not follow?
(Con)
My Lords, the Government are making every effort to increase
support for victims of rape and sexual assault. We now have a
24/7 helpline, as I said, have increased recruitment of
ISVAs—independent sexual violence advisers—and the rape support
fund is £21 million this year. So I hope we will be able to
address the point the noble Baroness raised, of which I take good
note.
(Con)
My Lords, can the Minister assure me that the number of women who
are not able to communicate, as English is not their first
language, is also collected in the data that my noble friend
mentioned? How are we monitoring whether women from communities
that cannot communicate fully in English are fully supported by
the systems?
(Con)
I take good note of my noble friend’s question and will do my
best to assure her that those pressing needs are dealt with.
(CB)
My Lords, some police officers spend more time considering the
credibility of the victim than the rape allegation made. They
unreasonably snoop through women’s mobile phone messages and
emails, downloading their entire history. Perhaps they think they
can get away with it. Will the Government implement the
recommendation made by , the former Victims’
Commissioner, to provide legal aid solicitors to rape victims,
who can challenge unreasonable demands made by the police?
(Con)
A legal aid solicitor ought to be able to challenge unreasonable
demands by the police under the existing regime. However, I refer
this House to Operation Soteria, which is directed to the very
point that the noble Baroness makes about the focus on the victim
rather than the suspect. It started as a pilot with Avon and
Somerset Police, is gradually being rolled out nationally to 19
police forces, and should turn the approach around so that it
focuses on the suspect, not the victim.
(Lab)
My Lords, many noble Lords have mentioned victims. When might we
find the long- promised victims Bill coming forward? What is the
Minister’s view on the Labour Party’s policy to make violence
against women and girls a serious crime in legislation?
(Con)
The Government hope to bring forward the victims Bill as soon as
possible but have no present plans to change the legislation on
violence against women or, indeed, anybody else.
(Lab)
My Lords, many women are facing a crisis of trust and confidence
in the criminal justice system at the moment. I appreciate that
the Minister is relatively new to this arena. However, there are
people who believe that rape has effectively been decriminalised
in our jurisdiction. That is a very serious matter. Would he
consider meeting me, perhaps the noble Baroness, Lady Newlove—who
is not in her place—other interested Members of your Lordships’
House and victims’ groups, including the Centre for Women’s
Justice, to hear their experience before taking this work further
forward?
(Con)
I would certainly be prepared to meet the noble Baroness and
others and, on that occasion, take everyone through the steps
that we are taking to combat this problem.
(CB)
My Lords, in January this year, the Ministry of Justice said in
answer to a Parliamentary Question from the shadow
Attorney-General, , that the typical delay
between an offence of alleged rape occurring and the completion
of the resulting criminal trial was 1,000 days. That is a
shocking statistic. What is the Ministry of Justice doing about
this?
(Con)
There are several steps. There is the reference from the police
to the CPS, the CPS charging decision, the CPS bringing a case,
the delay in the court and so forth. Delays in the court are
still a problem and have unfortunately been made worse by the
barristers’ strike. Other delays have been reduced. All I can say
to the noble Lord is that we are working as hard as we can to
address this problem.
(Lab)
My Lords, I am concerned that the Minister’s ambition seems to be
to get back to the figures from 2016. Those who work with
children, young women and women who have been abused, sexually
and in other ways, know that the numbers misrepresented the
problem that was out there even in 2016. A recent report from
Agenda looks particularly at young women. It is searing about the
experiences across the board, particularly in ethnic minorities.
Unless support is there earlier, those young women and other
women will not get near justice. The Government really need to
take that into account.
(Con)
The Government are working as hard as they can. This is a top
priority, and I take good note of the noble Baroness’s remarks.
