Harriet Wistrich, lawyer and director of Centre for Women's Justice commented on the embargoed HMICFRS report that assesses the Metropolitan Police Service’s (MPS) progress in learning from the mistakes identified in the Henriques report saying:
"The recommendations in the report are most disturbing at a time when we are facing a crisis in the criminal justice system in respect of the investigation and prosecution of rape. The presumption of belief in rape cases was introduced in order to encourage more victims to come forward to report, even now only an estimated 15% of rapes are reported, of which only one in 65 of those allegations reported result in a charging decision. Women are already declining to proceed with rape complaints when they feel they are treated as suspects and required to hand over the contents of the mobile phones and other personal data. The progress made in encouraging women to come forward will almost certainly go into reverse if women are not treated like all other complainants as reporting in good faith.
Essentially because one man made a series of allegations against high profile individuals which were believed by police officers, all rape victims are to face further hurdles in the process to hold rapists to account. False allegations are very few and far between, but criminal justice failures in the investigation and prosecution of rape are far too commonplace. There was an outcry when it was discovered that John Worboys was able to drug and rape over 100 women and remain undetected. This was mostly because the police failed to believe the accounts of the ten women who came forward to report him and therefore did not investigate. The messaging in this report is the last thing we need when rape is virtually decriminalised."
Next Tuesday, 17th March we will be representing EVAW at a judicial review permission hearing. Last year there were almost 60,000 reports of rape to the police but less than 1,800 men charged and less than 1,000 convictions. This amounts to the effective decriminalisation of rape and we must now have the court’s view on whether key management decisions, policy and practice at the CPS are violating women’s human rights to protection and justice. Full press-release.
The Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) is a legal charity founded in 2016, which aims to advance the human rights of women and girls in England and Wales by holding the state to account for failures in the prevention of violence against women and girls. Bringing together specialist lawyers, academics and other experts in the field of violence against women with those working on the frontline as activists, survivors and service providers, CWJ aims to secure justice for female victims and survivors of male violence by undertaking strategic litigation, including intervening in appropriate cases.
CWJ is a registered charity 1169213