A new report by the Police and the CPS finds each other to blame for the appallingly low number of reported rapes reaching prosecution – let alone conviction – in the UK. A ‘disproportionate focus on the victim’ does not mean they’re going several extra miles to identify and successfully prosecute men accused of rape. Quite the opposite. It refers to the onslaught of suspicion, doubt, intrusive investigation and reputation smearing a woman reporting rape faces, while her attacker is presumed innocent, his word believed beyond hers, and the potential damage to his career and good standing held in higher regard than the victim’s trauma or need for justice.
The report by the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate reveals without a hint of irony that until this blame culture is eradicated, a real shift in attitudes seems unachievable.
Read the BBC report HERE.
