Failure of justice: Rape survivors’ struggle with criminal justice system

Of estimated 370,000 rapes in the country, why just 0.4% see conviction?

Rape conviction rates at its lowest since 2009. Credit: Heather Mount on Unsplash

Justice is sometimes elusive. But, for sexual assault victims, it might be more so for in the United Kingdom.

About 80% of women in the UK have been sexually harassed. However, Crime Prosecution Services data shows the lowest conviction rates for 2019.

Katie Russell, National Spokesperson for help and information centre Rape Crisis said, “We’re at a crisis point.”

Katie says that the conviction rate should be seen as a national emergency. Credit: Katie Russell

Someone is raped in England and Wales every five minutes. In 2019–20, England and Wales recorded 55,130 rape cases and as per data released by Crown Prosecution Services, the conviction rates have halved in the last three years.

Katie said, “It’s an absolute failure of justice for the victims of sexual violence. Everyone who has an involvement or a stake in it really should be seeing this situation as the national emergency it is.”

Since only 15% of such cases are reported, as per data by the Ministry of Justice, total number of estimated rapes might be as high as 367,533. However, the number of…