Justice Secretary Robert Buckland ‘sorry’ for failing rape victims

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland ‘sorry’ for failing rape victims Justice Secretary Robert Buckland has apologized to rape victims for low conviction rates in England and Wales and promised to “do lots better”. In an exclusive BBC interview, he said it had been “not good enough” and admitted budget cuts were partly guilty. Rape convictions have fallen to a record low in recent years. The government said it had been now considering allowing victims to pre-record their evidence to spare them the trauma of a courtroom trial. Its review also outlined plans to focus more on the suspect’s behavior – not the accuser’s, and confirm phones moved out for evidence-gathering were returned within on a daily basis. The review was met with mixed responses, with one rape charity saying it had been a missed opportunity and did not identify any big commitments that will radically and swiftly improve rape victims’ experience. Labour said the govt had “failed victims of rape on every front” and its recommendations didn’t go far enough. Speaking to BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Mr. Buckland said the report revealed: “at all stages of the criminal justice process frankly a failure to cope with complaints made by many thousands of victims”. “The very first thing I believe I want to mention is, sorry – it isn’t ok.” ‘Deeply ashamed’ In a foreword to the review, Mr. Buckland, Secretary of State for the Home Department Priti Patel and Attorney General Michael Ellis, said: “The overwhelming majority of victims don’t see the crime against them charged and reach a court – one in two victims withdraw from rape investigations. “These are trends of which we are deeply ashamed,” they wrote. “Victims of rape are being failed.” They went on to mention that the majority of rapes were meted out by people known to the victim, making investigations very personal and intrusive for the victim. The trauma and their experience afterward led many to disengage from the criminal justice process, they said. “We don’t seem to be prepared to just accept that rape is simply ‘too difficult’ against the law to prosecute. We can, and must, do better,” they added. Katherine Araniello says she felt she wanted to require her own life after her rape case was dropped “practically on the eve of the trial” by the Crown Prosecution Service. She says she was given proof on why her case was dropped but it absolutely was only “very vague”. “They didn’t call me in to iron out any issues they could have at their end.” She says she felt like “it was my character” the CPS were judging, not that of the alleged perpetrator, and her treatment by the CPS “really stung, and it still stings to the present day”. “That lack of acknowledgment from the CPS on the way to treat victims, highly traumatized victims additionally, has left me really angry with the system,” she says. “They haven’t learned their lessons.” line Each year there are about 128,000 victims of rape and attempted rape but fewer than 20% of them report the crime to the police, consistent with the report. And just 1.6% of rapes lead to someone being charged. Emily Hunt, an independent adviser to the review and herself a rape victim, said the low prosecution rate wasn’t because people made false allegations. She cited home base research manifestation to three of rape allegations may be false, which meant 97% of them weren’t. “The reality is, in most cases, if someone says they have been raped, they need not made it up which makes this situation all the more shocking and unacceptable,” she said within the report. What’s the new plan? Plans launched within the report include: Introducing better data extraction technology to cut back the time that victims are without their phones – with an aim to possess them returned by police within 24 hours. Currently, this process can take months causing distress for victims left phoneless at a time after they most need support from friends and family Putting greater emphasis on understanding a suspect’s behavior instead of focussing on a victim’s credibility Sparing victims the trauma of attending a courtroom trial by videoing their cross-examination earlier within the process and far from the courtroom. A pilot is going to be trialed in several courts, with a wider rollout considered. This measure is already used for kids and vulnerable victims and witnesses The report – commissioned in March 2019 – also said the degree of cases visiting court should return to “at least 2016 levels” which regular “scorecards” would be published to observe progress. The Law Commission will begin a review into “rape myths” and examine the employment of a victims’ sexual history as evidence. Why are rape prosecutions falling? There are many possible factors behind the autumn in prosecutions. The report argued it had been because of “a strained relationship” between different parts of the system, lack of support for the victims, and “an increase in invasive requests for his or her personal data”. Graphic showing rape case outcomes Asked in his BBC interview whether government cuts to the system were an element, Robert Buckland replied: “Like all parts of public service big choices were made within the last decade, due to the position that we all faced economically and that is, I think, self-evidently the case.” He said the govt was now “seeking to form the required investment” but also insisted “it’s about quite just money, it’s about culture.” He argued that “for too long” rape allegations have focused on the credibility of the victim instead of the evidence. “If your home is burgled people don’t start asking ‘why did you go out?’… all those assumptions I’m afraid are far too often not applied when it involves sexual offenses,” he said. She said “piecemeal pilots” and “​tinkering” wouldn’t be enough to mend the failures. Andrea Simon, director of the tip Violence Against Women Coalition, said the present system was “in disarray”.