More must be done to combat rape, government admits

A recent Home Office poster campaign

Wednesday, 09, Jul 2008 06:35

The government will make a new pledge to increase the conviction rate for rape today as statistics show it remains one of the most underreported crimes in the UK.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said: "Rape is one of the most serious and devastating crimes. We know that it remains underreported and we are determined to improve this and increase the conviction rate."

The pledge will be made later today at a police conference attended by Mr Coaker and the Association of Chief Police Officers' (Acpo) John Yates.

The government is basing its programme an extension of sexual assault referral centres where victims receive medical care and counselling while undergoing forensic examination. The centres have been increased from five in 2001 to 36 by the end of 2009.

But levels of conviction remain at six per cent. British crime survey statistics show five per cent of all women have experienced rape, but only 15 per cent reported it to the police.

Of those who do, 70 per cent of cases are lost before they make it to court.

"Every force has a responsibility to ensure that every single officer who comes into contact with a rape victim is supportive and believes the victim," Mr Coaker continued.

"It may only take the raising of an eyebrow to cause her to lose courage."

Mr Yates, Acpo's lead on rape, admitted the police could do better.

"In recent years we have made significant advances in the way we approach investigation of this difficult offence, but despite that, delivery remains inconsistent and there is much more to do," he said.

"Rape is a uniquely difficult crime to investigate. Most cases involve people who know each other where consent is the issue.

"But the fact that it's difficult means we need to up our game and redouble our efforts to ensure victims can have confidence in the way they are approached by those working in the criminal justice system."

Mr Yates also suggested setting up specialist rape squads in each police force to take into account the specialist skills required to pursue a rape case.

The Liberal Democrats welcomed the idea, with their home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, saying: "These proposals make a lot of sense in an area where convictions have been very low and where there is a serious difficulty in persuading victims to come forward."