Less than 1% of reported rape cases end in conviction

A £26 million investment has been put into specialist services across England and Wales to provide improved support for victims of rape and sexual violence.

The multi-million-pound investment has been awarded to more than 60 specialist support services over the next two years. These specialist services include Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre, Trafford Rape Crisis, and We Are Survivors.

Each organisation focuses on providing victims of sexual violence and rape with tailored support programmes, which include counselling and therapeutic services, advocacy, outreach, and group activities.

The investments have been pledged to commemorate the government achieving its third and final ambition in its landmark End-to-End Rape Review 18 months ahead of target.

The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of Justice, Alex Chalk KC, said: "I am pleased that all three 2021 Rape Review ambitions have been met so far ahead of schedule. There is more work to do, but this milestone demonstrates real progress in strengthening justice for victims of these appalling crimes."

In 2022, The Crime Survey for England and Wales noted that approximately that 16 per cent of people aged 16 and over in the UK, were victims of sexual assault. The Crime Survey for England and Wales also found that in 2022, 1.9 million people had been raped since the age of 16.

Also in 2022, the Office for National Statistics revealed that 86 per cent of sexual offences recorded by the police in the UK targeted women.

The Office for National Statistics also declared that their data in 2022, shows that a huge 91 per cent of rape victims were female – similar to the previous findings in 2021.

Although the prevalence of rape is absolute in the UK, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Centre, a shocking 63 per cent of sexual assaults are not reported to the authorities. the National Sexual Violence Resource Centre also recognised that only 12 per cent of child sexual abuse cases are reported to the police.

Many victims of sexual assault and rape refuse to report the crime, due to shame and guilt forcing them to stay silent.

In 2021, after a police officer raped and killed Sarah Everard, a new feminist movement was formed. The movement, which was dubbed the Women's Safety Movement was sourced by outrage towards women and girls being unprotected by the police and are regularly advised on what to wear to prevent an attack.

Instead, the Women's Safety Movement created a "tell your boys" trend that called for more boys and men to teach one another about making women feel comfortable. The Women's Safety Movement also loudly acknowledged that "asking for it" is an outdated social construct, and that innocent victims of sexual assault should not bear the burden or guilt of any perpetrator.

Speaking of the unjust reaction to the attack on Sarah Everard, Labour MP, Abena Oppong-Asare wrote: "I have concerns that the emphasis is on women to act. While very little has been mentioned about the actions you intend to take as a police force."

Several rape and sexual assault victims also resist from reporting crimes to the police due to false reporting and a lack of justice.

The National Sexual Violence Resource Centre revealed that in 2022, the prevalence of false reporting stood between two and 10 per cent.

Although a huge 1.9 million people said that they had been raped at age 16 or older, scorecards published by the government in 2022 showed that under one per cent of reported rape cases end in conviction.

One anonymous woman, who was also a victim of rape, spoke out about the lack of rape cases ending in conviction. She said: "The whole process has been more traumatic than the actual rape. I have zero belief in the justice legal system."