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Fawcett : Justice for Rape Victims – Sign Our Open Letter

More than 1,900 of you have already signed our open letter to Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary. We will be presenting the letter to Jacqui Smith on 25th March. The more of you sign up before then, the more powerful our message to Government that they must do more for rape victims will be. (See Government failing victims of rape - New campaign launched for justice for rape victims)

Open letter to Jacqui Smith

Dear Home Secretary

Every 34 minutes a rape is reported to the police in the United Kingdom. Thousands more victims do not come forward.

Yet despite the scale of the problem, the Government has failed to provide the support that women want and need. The few remaining rape crisis centres are at risk of closing due to inadequate and insecure funding, and the vast majority of women in the UK have nowhere to turn to for support in their local area.

Not only are women who have been raped denied access to support, they are also denied access to justice. Only one out of every twenty rapes reported to the police results in a conviction, with less than one in five rapes even leading to a prosecution. This failure to bring rapists to justice amounts to a near ‘licence to rape’.

Money must be invested in support services without delay, so that every area has a fully-funded rape crisis centre, while the Government must take immediate steps to ensure that real improvements are made in criminal justice practice, so that every case is properly investigated.

The Government must do more for victims of rape. We call on you to give this issue the political priority that it deserves.

To add your name to Fawcett's letter online, please go to http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/justice-for-rape-victims.html

Alternatively, please email your name and organisation (if appropriate) to petition@fawcettsociety.org.uk or call us on 020 7253 2598 and we will add your name to the list of signatories.

See also the New Statesman petition to the PM to secure more funding for Rape Crisis Centres:

“ … We commend the invaluable work of Rape Crisis in bringing much needed support to people affected by sexual violence often years after the offences have taken place. We note with sadness that in 1984 there were 68 affiliated members of Rape Crisis (England and Wales) but now there are just 38 . We believe this is a failure of successive administrations and endorse the New Statesman's campaign to secure proper funding from the government so existing Rape Crisis centres can continue their work and that new centres can open … “

To sign this petition go to: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/RapeCrisis/