The rape crisis is an organisation that works alongside the police to help support those who have been a victim of crime and to also improve the response for the victim.Rape Crisis (England and Wales) is a feminist organisation which exists to promote the needs of women and girls, who have experienced sexual violence, to improve services to them and to work towards the elimination of sexual violence. Need to Paraphrase
The home office findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime reveal that up to 10 cases of rape go unreported and 38 per cent of serious sexual assault victims tell no one about their experience. (Governments response to rape )
However recorded crimes do not reflect the whole picture therefore there is more incidences of rape then is shown here,rape is known to be highly unreported. “Some victims are deterred from coming forward because they fear they will be vilified” (CPS) (home office p.)
Police’s response to rape
Rape is said to be one of the most underrated offences .The police’s treatment towards rape victims has been critiqued over the years. It appears that the police disregard how hard it must be for a victim to report the crime as their response is said to be quite negative. (assessment to victims too subjective and vulnerable to stereotyping) The police’s initial response is based on negative stereotypes such as; the victims character, attire and demeanour which are all poor judgements and unfair. “victims who had been attacked by a stranger,more likely to encounter positive police response”.The public’s trust in the police has deteriorated due to insensitive attitudes and disbelieve from officers and a fear of being victimized/ vilified over something they had no control over. Rapists escape justice due to the police and prosecutors' dismissive attitudes towards victims.taking the victim seriously enough in or der to record the incident as a crime is only the first step in achieving justice for rape victims, and the likelihood of these women seeing their attacker brought to justice is appalling small paraphrase
The police do try to take all rape allegations seriously and enforce a policy that records all allegations of rape.Even with that said there has been reports of crimes that go unnoticed. There has been an increase of “no crime” convictions between 2009-2001 from 10.2 to 30%.“In accordance with the Home Office counting rules we may "no crime" these records if, and only if, there is additional verifiable information to satisfy the force crime registrar that there is no substantive rape.” Add more on no crime here
Why victims may not report crime…. “Only 15% of serious sexual offences against people 16 and over are reported to the police and of the rape offences that are reported, fewer than 6% result in an offender being convicted of this offence. This means that those who commit these very serious crimes may continue to pose a risk to the public.”
Without consent
A deterrent to prosecuting rapists is insufficient evidence, as rape takes place in private, the victim would be the only witness so police can only go by what he/she says. The type of evidence that prosecutors look for consists of signs of injury, struggle or immediate distress. Not all cases make it to crown court as they do not meet the criteria/what is needed for the evidential stage to support the case in court. This is something the police and CPS fail to tell victims about. CPS must be satisfied with the evidence specified for it to be taken further. Its important for the police and cps to look for supporting evidence “for there to be a conviction, we have to prove the case so that the court is sure of the defendant’s guilt”. False accusations made by women jeopardise the way the police deal with rape complaints,if this happens the person could face serious severe consequences.
When a rapist has been aquited it means the case could not be proved
CONCLUSION AND RECCOMENDATION FOR ACTION
From looking at all the data,policies and information provide by many campaigns and organisations against rape there is a clear indication that the police are heavily involved in trying to help victims which shows that the response rate has improved some what but …………….
The CPS and Police should review and reassess the way in which they notify victims that their specific case will not be taken further.
Police still need to be thoroughly trained on the best way to treat woman complaining of rape
The CPS and the Police should aim to achieve the same target which is a better response to rape.
Awareness campaigns should be put forward to the public
The Police and CPS should take greater care and concern when dealing with male rape cases as they are just as serious.
Training for CPS and police should be implemented across the country and be regularly updated.
Only one fifth of rapes reported to the BCS were reported to the police. Procedures, sympathetic to victims, should be introduced. (Mayhill & Allen 2002)
by
nicki121 (student)
