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Child and Women Abuse Studies Unit : Report

A gap or a chasm? Attrition in reported rape cases

This report draws on material from two evaluation projects funded by the Crime Reduction Programme Violence Against Women Initiative (CRP VAWI). It combines analysis of St Mary 's Sexual Assault Referral Centre historic database and prospective case tracking of reported rape/sexual assault cases across six sites over 17-27 months. Researchers tracked 3,500 rape cases through the courts and intervieed 228 rape victims.

The results show an ongoing decline in the conviction rate for reported rape cases, putting it at an all-time low of 5.6per cent in 2002. This year-on-year increase in attrition represents a justice gap that the government has pledged to address.

Available to view in pdf format at the Home Office website:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hors293.pdf

Available from The Home Office - email: publications.rds@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Authors: Liz Kelly, Jo Lovett, Linda Regan

See Project: Understanding of Attrition, Decreasing Early Withdrawals and Developing Best Practice for Reporting Rape

Rape: The Forgotten Issue? A European Research and Networking Project

The original idea for this project emerged from an international workshop on rape and was developed by three UK groups (CWASU, South Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre and Campaign to End Rape), supported by partners from Ireland (The Network of Rape Crisis Centres, Ireland) and Finland (Rape Crisis Centre, Tukinainen). The role of CWASU in this partnership was to conduct research on the criminal justice response to rape across Europe and to provide consultancy and technical assistance on the development of a European Network of groups responding to rape. Based on this project, the research report provides an analysis of:

• the prevalence of rape and attrition rates across Europe;
• issues that arise in prosecuting rape cases;
• the extent and organisation of support services for rape survivors;
• the need for, and potential roles of a European Network on rape and sexual assault.

Main Findings:

• Extensive evidence of the extent to which rape has become a 'forgotten issue' across Europe in terms of awareness, funding, policy reform and research.
• The lack of basic information and research on rape across Europe, which severely limits the possibilities for the promotion and co-ordination of actions and measures aimed at provision, protection and prevention of violence against women.
• In the context of the under-reporting of rape, in a number of European countries reporting is actually decreasing, remaining stable in others, and increasing in some.
• In every country involved in the study serious problems in the responses to rape reported to the police persist, meaning that across the continent there is a general failure to bring rapists to justice.
• The neglect of rape as an issue by European governments and professionals has contributed to a situation where barriers to justice have increased rather than decreased.

Authors: Liz Kelly, Linda Regan

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