Sex assault: South Wales Police officer said my top was low-cut – teenager

A 19-year-old woman who complained to police that she was sexually assaulted has said she felt judged by an officer who called her top low-cut.

Faith Jones said she still has nightmares, but dropped her complaint due to the strain of the legal process.

She said she worried she would not be believed because of her cerebral palsy, and some police comments.

South Wales Police said any "incidents of inappropriate comments reported to us will be thoroughly investigated".

Ms Jones, from Swansea, went to police after she said she was sexually assaulted, or touched inappropriately without consent, earlier this year.

She said: "I felt dirty... I remember having a shower that night and wanting to scrub myself raw."

But soon after she made the report to the police, she started to lose confidence.

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"I didn't feel there were many people I could go to really and say I'm worried about how they'll perceive me, taking this forward as a young, disabled woman," she said.

"I remember showing the police officer the top I was wearing at the time of the incident and although she did say 'nothing anybody wears makes it OK for somebody to assault them or abuse them'... I remember her quite vividly saying 'OK that top is quite low-cut'."

"So I kind of felt then that I was right to feel guilty about what I was wearing during the incident."

Sexual violence advisor Rhian Bowen-Davies feared victims were losing confidence in the justice system

She said that ultimately she made the "heart-breaking decision" to drop the complaint

"I still have nightmares about his face, about him harming other women, about him turning up at my home."

Welsh Women's Aid believes women are being let down by the criminal justice system because of delays and lack of support.

Mobile phone and social media evidence

Data gathered by BBC News in April showed that between July and September 2021, the average case length for sexual offences was 266 days, or about nine months.

The case length is considered to be the time from the first crown court hearing to the sentencing or end of a case.

Due to their nature, sexual offence cases increasingly involve large amounts of evidence gathered from mobile phones and social media - which can make things difficult for police, prosecutors and victims.

Campaigners like Welsh Women's Aid believe the problems can result in victims dropping their cases, and the charity said something has to change to give people confidence.

Sara Kirkpatrick of Welsh Women's Aid says prosecution rates are "incredibly" low

Chief executive Sara Kirkpatrick said: "We have incredibly low prosecution rates. From report to court there is a great loss of cases and that does not build trust and confidence.

"Sexual assault has significant long-term impacts on someone who experiences it, to then add to that an 18-month delay to a process to answer the question of 'is the person who did this to me going to be held to account?' That's a really traumatising thing.

"We need to see timely prosecutions, effective prosecutions, clear communication with survivors and clear communication that highlights that support services are available during that period, so that victims are given realistic expectations and are not left feeling responsible for the harm which they have experienced."

'System is broken'

An independent adviser on sexual violence and domestic abuse said she feared victims were losing confidence in the criminal justice system.

Rhian Bowen-Davies believed "positive steps have not been taken fast enough".

She said: "When we hear that individuals who've experienced sexual violence and abuse saying that if they had known what that experience and process would have been like for them, they would have never reported it in the first place, we know that our existing system is broken.

"I'm extremely concerned. I'm concerned for those individuals who feel like they're not getting that support, who aren't getting the information to be able to go through this process. The system is failing them."

South Wales Police says inappropriate comments reported to it will be thoroughly investigated

'Always focused on victim's needs'

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "We worked hard to successfully reduce the backlogs and waiting times caused by the pandemic and are now in discussions with the Criminal Bar Association to get justice moving again for victims.

"We have also boosted funding for victim support by at least £460m over the next three years. This includes recruiting more independent sexual violence advisors so victims feel supported at every stage of the justice system."

Det Insp Joy Lewis of South Wales Police said the force always focused on a victim's needs.

"Incidents of inappropriate comments reported to us will be thoroughly investigated," she said.

"It is very important to be clear that we always focus on the needs of the victim and we recognise incidents of this nature can be devastating for them," she said.

"We take all reports of inappropriate comments extremely seriously and incidents reported to us will be thoroughly investigated."

South Wales Police confirmed that a man was arrested on suspicion of common assault in relation to Faith's complaints about inappropriate comments made to her.

But they said the man was later released without charge after she withdrew her complaint.

If you've been affected by any issues in this article, help and support can be found through the BBC Action Line.