Rape and other serious sexual offences devastate the lives of victims, who carry scars with them through their lives. Prosecutions and convictions for these crimes remain too rare. In the year to September 2022, there were 70,633 rapes reported by police in England and Wales; in 2022, there were 459 convictions. Such an enormous gap is nothing new and has led campaigners to argue that the crime of rape has effectively been decriminalised, with only a tiny minority of perpetrators caught and punished.
Given this backdrop, any improvement in the way that allegations are dealt with must be welcomed. So must meaningful development in the wider criminal justice policy environment overseen by the government. But Monday’s announcement by the Ministry of Justice about the progress made over the past two years should be treated cautiously. While there are some promising indications that the police and courts have made changes, particularly in their approach to complainants and their evidence, it is too soon for ministers to congratulate themselves that this is a problem they are on the way to solving.
