Sexual assault: key issues

Sexual assault is both a common and a very serious crime which is investigated by the police with an intensity second only to that of murder. In total, 62 081 sexual offences were recorded by police in England and Wales in 2005/2006, of which 14 449 were offences of rape1—representing a significant increase in reporting compared with the 1842 such reports in 1985.2 In 2006 a 3% increase in women reporting rape (12 903 to 13 331) was noted, compared to a 2% decrease among men (1139 to 1118). In spite of the overall increase in reporting over the years, the conviction rate for rape remains persistently low: under 6% in England and Wales and only 4% in Scotland.3 Many blame an ambivalent public attitude to rape, as suggested by the Amnesty International report of November 2005,4 which showed that a third of people believe that a woman may be partially or completely responsible for being raped if she has behaved flirtatiously, and that 25% of the 1000 people surveyed believed a woman is at least partially to blame if she has worn revealing clothing or been intoxicated. Most people surveyed had no idea how many women were raped every year in the UK. The true reasons for low conviction rates in rape cases are complex and cannot be explained by this ‘rape myth’ alone. The real problem lies in the high attrition rate, with only 14% of reported cases resulting in trial proceedings. About 9% of cases are classified as false allegations, the majority of which are reports from within the 16-25 age group. One third of reported cases fail to proceed past the investigation stage due to ‘evidence issues’ or ‘victim credibility’. Another third are lost when the victim later withdraws from a case for fear either of being disbelieved or of the criminal justice system or court process. The fact that majority of assailants are known to the victims and that a large numbers of cases are associated with drinking alcohol completes the picture.3,5-7