Rape victim support should be taken off Met, advocate says

Claire Waxman says a Victims' Care Hub could offer case updates and make referrals

Rape victims should no longer be offered support by Met Police officers, London's victims' commissioner says.

Claire Waxman said the force was failing to provide effective support to victims and an independent body should be appointed instead.

Officers should continue with their investigative work, she added.

The Met said it thought the force could win back support - although figures show there has been an increase in rape victims withdrawing from cases.

Data released by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) showed a 7% rise in the number of cases being withdrawn by victims of rape between 2019 and 2021.

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In February 2020 Juliana Terlizzi was raped by her then boyfriend, Hubert Greliak.

One of the conditions of his bail was that he could not contact her. He did.

Ms Terlizzi, who has waived her right to anonymity, said when she reported this contact, officers did not believe her.

"They said I was overthinking things and that I should go to my GP and ask for medication," she said.

"I felt completely unsupported. At this point, I felt like I was treated as a suspect and not a victim."

She said she had to give the police access to her computer, phone and social media, as officers told her if she did not, they would drop her case.

She added she did not leave her house for eight months, as she was too frightened.

Juliana Terlizzi's former boyfriend was jailed after he was convicted of raping her

And, despite the overwhelming evidence, she nearly withdrew her allegations due to a lack of police support.

When her case did go to court, the former chef says a police officer acted in a sexually inappropriate way while she was sitting in the witness care room.

On 12 April, Greliak was jailed for 13 and a half years after being found guilty at Isleworth Crown Court of rape and assault by penetration.

'Frustrating'

"I can't have victims being treated like this any longer," said Ms Waxman.

"I'm not shocked we hear some terrible responses from the police to rape survivors. That just shows a complete lack of understanding and specialism of those officers," she said, adding that those officers should not have been anywhere near rape survivors.

"It's frustrating for me; five years working with the Met as a critical friend to try and move them forward and they just haven't moved forward, in fact they've gone backwards.

"I was here to improve victims' experience and if I can't do that with the Met, then I'll have to find another way."

Ms Waxman said that although she could see the Met was trying to do the work, the force "can't seem to get it implemented and embedded to the level that I need it in order to get the right response to victims coming forward".

The Met said it hoped to rebuild trust

She proposes a Victims' Care Hub, which would offer a single point of contact for victims to support them through the justice process.

It would offer key updates on case progression, provide information and advice, answer questions, refer on to specialist support and ensure entitlements under the Victims' Code were being delivered.

Commander Kevin Southworth, head of public protection at the Met, said the force wanted to work with London's victims' commissioner, and believed it could win back support by making sure it increased its detection rate.

"I believe we can steadily increase rates and reverse the statistics, holding the hearts and minds of survivors through this difficult process," he said.

"Ultimately, our rape investigation teams, dedicated as they are within our units, are amongst the most committed and highly trained staff that we're lucky enough to have within our ranks."

Since Ms Terlizzi's case, the government has amended the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, guaranteeing rape victims safeguards against overly intrusive and excessive requests for personal mobile phone data in rape investigations.

If you've been affected by issues raised in this report, the BBC's Action Line has a list of organisations that may be able to help.

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