Only 6 percent of rape investigations in Derbyshire end with charge

It comes as the Government launches a new strategy aimed at tackling violence against women and girls, which includes a focus on prevention and improving the criminal justice response to offences that disproportionately affect women, such as rape and harassment.

A consultation into the plan was reopened following the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in London earlier this year.

The new VAWG strategy is published against a backdrop of poor conviction rates for rape nationally, despite the number of reported incidents on the rise.

Home Office figures reveal Derbyshire Constabulary concluded 892 rape investigations, where the alleged victim was female, in the year to March – but only 53 (6%) resulted in a charge or summons.

The force dropped 773 investigations (87%) due to difficulties gathering evidence and 51 cases (6%) because a suspect could not be identified.

Low charge rates are seen across reports of sexual offences as a whole – Derbyshire Constabulary charged a suspect in a sex offence case 281 times in 2020-21, equating to just 10% investigations closed over the period.

Although these figures include offences against both men and women, separate data from the Office for National Statistics shows that in the majority of recorded sexual offences nationally, the victim is female.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently apologised to rape victims across the country for the trauma and delays they have faced in securing justice, as the Government published its end-to-end rape review to tackle a decreasing conviction rate.

The review sought to identify why victims withdraw from the criminal justice process, why prosecutions have collapsed and the impact on victims.

The measures set to be introduced by the Government's VAWG strategy include a 24/7 rape and sexual assault helpline, a review of the management of registered sex offenders and a £5 million Safety of Women at Night fund.

The Home Office figures show few harassment crimes reported to Derbyshire Constabulary resulted in a charge or summons last year – 372 (9%) of 4,285 concluded investigations.

That was higher than the average across England and Wales, where just 6.5% of harassment investigations saw someone charged or summoned to court.

A Derbyshire police spokesperson said: “Every survivor of rape or sexual assault that comes forward receives support from specialist officers and partner agencies – whether a criminal case continues or not – giving them access to support that helps them process and understand the trauma they have been through and rebuild their lives.

“The biggest single reason for cases not progressing to court is that survivors are unable to provide support for the investigation. There are many reasons for this, and the force is reviewing the findings of a national report, as well as conducting further research into local investigations to understand the reasons why the police are not achieving victim support.

“Research shows that when survivors support an investigation from start to finish the chances of a case reaching court increases dramatically. The force is currently developing a plan that uses education, support, and targeted resources to improve survivors’ confidence in the process and ensure their continued support of any prosecution.”

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