Hill published a progress report this week on the five-year Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) plan to reverse falling rape convictions. His report highlights three main areas of activity: improving support given to victims and recognising their trauma; supporting prosecutors and expanding the size of specialist units to ensure proper resourcing for complex cases; and better collaboration with the police from the outset of the investigation, with an offender-centric approach to case building.
Hill said: ‘Without doubt there is a crisis of public trust in how the criminal justice system is responding to violence against women and girls.
‘We have looked at every aspect of our work―leaving no stone unturned―to understand and address the reasons behind the stark drop in the numbers. We are beginning to see results, with the proportion of rape cases we charge steadily increasing, but there is a long way to go.’
Office for National Statistics figures published last month reveal 63,136 rape offences were recorded in the year to September 2021, up 13% from the previous year, but only 1.3% of these resulted in prosecution. In the same period, recorded sexual offences as a whole soared 12% to 170,973 (rape offences account for about 37% of these).
Of those reporting rape, 41% withdrew from the prosecution before it was complete, with 30% backing out within the first three months of the crime being recorded–figures highlighted as ‘alarming’ by Victims’ Commissioner Vera Baird QC.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme following the publication of Hill’s report this week, Baird said: ‘There are half the number of rapists off the streets than there were before Max Hill became DPP.’
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