Gender, Crime & Justice Assessment

Gender, Crime & Justice Assessment

Why the conviction rate for rape remains so low?

Introduction

The appallingly low conviction rate for reported rapes implies that the police do not treat rape as they do other serious crimes (Police admit failing victims, March 3). A poll in 2005 for Amnesty highlighted the prejudices rape victims still face if they do not fit the model of a "perfect victim". These are prejudices that the police and juries are also likely to hold and contribute to the denial of justice for rape victims. But it's important to look at the bigger picture. Up to 90% of rape victims never report the attack to the police, and these women are being failed by the lack of specialised support services around the country. A funding crisis has meant that rape crisis centres are closing at an alarming rate - there are now only 38 affiliated groups across England and Wales, and none funded in Northern Ireland. The fact is that most women across the UK do not have access to a centre, as research for the End Violence against Women Campaign and the Equality and Human Rights Commission showed recently. (Bergen, Raquel Kennedy 2006) The attrition rate refers to the number of convictions secured compared with the number of that particular crime reported to the police (it must be noted that a crime that is 'reported' does not automatically imply that the crime actually took place). The conviction rate refers to the number of convictions secured against the number of persons brought to trial for that given offence. Rape is the only crime judged by the attrition rate. All others - murder, assault, robbery, and so on - are assessed by their conviction rates. 

Scotland is the only part of the UK where rape crisis centres are expanding. This is as a result of a more strategic approach being taken by the Scottish government, which includes a national fund for services. The government must take urgent action to ensure that rape victims have access to the support they need to rebuild their lives - this should be a right, not a privilege determined by a postcode lottery. Convictions for reported rape cases have reached an all-time low because of a "culture of scepticism" among the police, according to Home Office research published last night. The study finds that despite long-running efforts by the government to boost the conviction rate, only 5.6% of reported cases end in the rapist being convicted in court.

This represents a record low, with the conviction rate having fallen from 32% in 1977. While the last two decades have seen a continuing and unbroken increase in the reporting of rapes to the police by victims, it has not been matched by a similar rise in prosecutions or convictions. The official study, A Gap Or a Chasm?, by researchers at the London Metropolitan University child and women abuse unit, says that part of the reason is that police and prosecutors overestimate ...