The Ministry of Justice has withdrawn a tweet that appeared to blame the police for going on a “fishing expedition” pressuring rape victims to hand over notes on the therapy they had after an attack.
The deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Lynne Owens, attacked the tweet, which was trumpeting government changes to the law.
The deputy commissioner was angered by the government’s public blaming of police, which she felt could deter victims from coming forward, and the MoJ deleted its own tweet within hours of Owens’s criticism.
Owens wrote: “The way this tweet is written is inaccurate and offensive, minimising the efforts the majority of police officers make to support victims and comply with the expectations of other parts of the justice system. Change was needed but to position in this way undermines public trust.”
Owens later said the tweet “oversimplifies the policy change”.
In response to another message, the deputy commissioner wrote: “I’m not minimising the role we have to play but the impact this could have on victim confidence … could be significant.”
For years, victims have faced demands to hand over highly sensitive personal information, such as notes from therapy and medical records, if they want to stand any chance of their attacker facing justice.
The MoJ announced earlier this week that it was changing the law so such requests would only be made when “absolutely necessary”.
The deleted tweet was a more concise and social media-friendly version of a press release.
That press release said: “Victims of rape will no longer face unnecessary and invasive requests from the police to access their therapy notes or other personal records thanks to new legislation …
“For the first time ever, an amendment to the government’s victims and prisoners bill will set out clearly in law that police should only request material that is absolutely necessary and proportionate to ensure that vulnerable victims aren’t put off seeking vital support.
“This will end expansive fishing expeditions for information that is often not relevant to the investigation and used to undermine the credibility of the victim.”
The home secretary, Suella Braverman, and the justice secretary, Alex Chalk, backed the announcement.
Leading experts in how the justice system treats female victims of the most serious crimes say police and prosecution lawyers are to blame, and furthermore that the government is only “pretending” to change the law.
Nogah Ofer, of the Centre for Women’s Justice, said: “There is quite a lot of finger-pointing between the police and CPS, and either of them can be to blame in different cases. We have seen both.”
Two years ago the centre compiled a dossier of cases, leading both police and the CPS to vow to change, but improvements were patchy, Ofer said. She added that the government announcement merely restated what was already the law under the Data Protection Act.
“They are pretending to change the law. There is nothing new. It is what we have got already, it’s just not being followed. It is spin, it is not a big change,” she said.
It is estimated that only a fraction of the women attacked ever report their ordeal to the police, with conviction rates having crashed in recent years.
A report by Louise Casey earlier this year for the Met said that Britain’s biggest force was failing women and rape victims and was institutionally misogynist.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Our amendment means victims of rape will no longer face unnecessary and invasive requests to access their therapy notes or other personal records.
“We have amended the wording of our communications following a request from the police, to reflect the full breadth of circumstances in which such requests have historically come about.”
