Victims let down by delayed rape review - Labour

Labour says victims of rape and sexual violence "cannot wait any longer for action" amid delays over publishing a major review into falling prosecution rates.

The study was commissioned more than two years ago, as figures show a steep drop in the number of cases coming to trial in England and Wales.

Labour's Ellie Reeves, says victims are "in a form of purgatory".

The government has signalled its review could be published next month.

The 'end to end' rape review was launched in March 2019 to look at victims' experiences - from alleged crimes being reported to the police, to outcomes in court.

It was expected to report by spring 2020 but was delayed while a legal case was heard and more research was gathered.

It comes as figures show convictions for rape have been falling dramatically in recent years.

In the year to March 2020, fewer than two per cent of rape cases recorded by police resulted in a suspect being charged or receiving a summons.

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Responding to an urgent question in the Commons from Labour's Alex Davies-Jones, home office minister, Kit Malthouse said the decline in the number of trials was a cause of "significant concern".

He said the review would be published "shortly after" MPs return from recess, which ends on 7th June, and it would represent a "serious commitment to change".

It would contain "a set of actions", he added, that would "drive system and culture change to ensure that victims feel supported and able to stay engaged in their case".

Mr Matlhouse said better communication, and updated and stronger case preparation methods, should "lead to more cases reaching court and, we hope, more defendants pleading guilty".

"Form of purgatory"

But Labour's shadow solicitor general, Ellie Reeves, accused the government of "letting down victims of rape and serious sexual violence on every front".

She said victims "have been left waiting years for their day in court with no support, no communication, and no action" from ministers.

"When I've spoken to victims they tell me they often feel as though they are on trial, and how being left to wait years for their day in court leaves them in a form of purgatory, unable to move on from what's happened to them", she added.

Ms Reeves said "victims cannot wait any longer for action" and the government needed to urgently show how it intends to reverse the "shocking deterioration of rape prosecutions it has allowed to happen under its watch, and how it intends to improve the criminal justice system for victims of rape and sexual violence".

Labour MP Charlotte Nichols spoke of her own personal experience and said a support package for survivors of rape and sexual crimes needed to be put in place.

She said she had "heard harrowing testimony from a number of constituents" who were traumatised after they came forward to the police and felt like they themselves were on trial.

Their experiences had "vindicated" her in her "own decision not to go to the police", she said, and, like her, many victims thought the chance of securing a successful conviction was "miniscule".

Mr Malthouse said MPs would not have to wait long for what he called a "wide ranging action plan" and said he would "take personal leadership" of the actions recommended.