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Rape victims failed by under-resourced police and prosecutors, report finds Rape and sexual offences to be treated as seriously as terror threats, police say
(about 1 hour later)
Rape victims are being failed by a lack of resources among police and prosecutors, a new report has found. Police have pledged to treat rape and sexual offences as seriously as threats to national security after a new report found that rape victims were being failed by a lack of resources among police and prosecutors.
The review was conducted by Elish Angiolini for the Metropolitan police and CPS. It said the government must provide more resources to help deal with an increase in complaints of rape and sexual violence.The review was conducted by Elish Angiolini for the Metropolitan police and CPS. It said the government must provide more resources to help deal with an increase in complaints of rape and sexual violence.
Commander Bernard Hogan-Howe said: “We have to give the same priority to sex offence investigations as we do to counter-terrorism.”
The report makes 46 recommendations and comes against a backdrop of most victims suffering in silence and not telling the police they have been attacked; 80% of victims do not report their attacks, meaning such crimes are severely under-reported.The report makes 46 recommendations and comes against a backdrop of most victims suffering in silence and not telling the police they have been attacked; 80% of victims do not report their attacks, meaning such crimes are severely under-reported.
The report tells of concerns within the police and prosecutors handling rape cases: “High levels of anxiety were observed in both organisations, which, unless additional resources are forthcoming, can only become worse as staff struggle to meet increasing crime reporting.”The report tells of concerns within the police and prosecutors handling rape cases: “High levels of anxiety were observed in both organisations, which, unless additional resources are forthcoming, can only become worse as staff struggle to meet increasing crime reporting.”
The Met, Brirain’s biggest force, has been dogged by a series of scandals over the way it investigates rape. There has also been sustained concern about the failure to bring enough sexual violence offenders to justice. The review’s focus is on how cases of rape are investigated and prosecuted in London but its findings could lead to changes nationally. Errors by the Met meant one of Britain’s worst serial rapists, John Worboys, remained at large as chances to catch him were missed. He was jailed for life in 2009, with detectives fearing he attacked at least 105 women over a six-year period. Some of the Met’s specialist sexual violence units, known as Sapphire, have been hit by problems and, in several areas, the Met failed to record rape incidents as crimes, in breach of its own policy. Angiolini was lord advocate in Scotland, the top prosecutor in the jurisdiction, from 2006 to 2011 and is now the principal of St Hugh’s College Oxford. The Met, Britain’s biggest force, has been dogged by a series of scandals over the way it investigates rape. There has also been sustained concern about the failure to bring more sexual violence offenders to justice. The review’s focus is on how cases of rape are investigated and prosecuted in London but its findings could lead to changes nationally. Errors by the Met meant one of Britain’s worst serial rapists, John Worboys, remained at large as chances to catch him were missed. He was jailed for life in 2009, with detectives fearing he attacked at least 105 women over a six-year period. Some of the Met’s specialist sexual violence units, known as Sapphire, have been hit by problems and, in several areas, the Met failed to record rape incidents as crimes, in breach of its own policy. Angiolini was lord advocate in Scotland, the top prosecutor in the jurisdiction, from 2006 to 2011 and is now the principal of St Hugh’s College, Oxford.