Something has gone seriously wrong in the criminal justice system when it comes to rape, according to a major government report.
Senior ministers say they are deeply ashamed that there has been a sharp drop in the number of cases going to court in just five years.
The government has promised to overhaul the way sexual crime investigations are conducted after victims, mostly women, complained of being digitally "strip searched", made to hand over phones, had their personal lives trawled over and their credibility questioned.
The report details how the case is often damaged during the police investigation, ensuring the victim never sees justice.
The government's end-to-end Rape Review, which covers England and Wales, says: "The numbers make for stark reading… Only 3% of adult rape offences assigned a police outcome in 2019/20 were given an outcome of charged/summonsed.
"This is down from 13% of adult rape offences assigned an outcome in 2015/16.
"Prosecutions and convictions for adult rape have also fallen, by 62% and 47% respectively since 2015/16."
In a letter signed by Home Secretary Priti Patel, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland and Attorney General Michael Ellis, they say: "These are trends of which we are deeply ashamed.
"Victims of rape are being failed. Thousands of victims have gone without justice.
"But this isn't just about numbers - every instance involves a real person who has suffered a truly terrible crime."
…full article on this…
https://news.sky.com/story/ministers...ailed-12335252
…I mean, it says so much that it’s taken so long for this ‘Review’ to happen when this is something that has been so blatant for such a long time…