Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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A number of reports 144 have documented this continuing misinterpretation of equality
legislation. A trend towards fragmented commissioning frameworks which favour generic large
providers offering lower unit costs, but lacking expertise on VAWG, 145 has intensified under the
Westminster Government’s localism agenda.
There is currently only one Rape Crisis Centre in Wales, covering the north, although the RSF will
support a new service in mid-Wales to open within the next three years. The majority of women
in Wales still do not have access to specialised support from Rape Crisis, despite the Welsh
Government publishing an integrated violence against women strategy in 2010 146 and consulting
on a VAWG Bill in 2013. 147 (See Annex 1)
The failure of the CJS to deal effectively with reported rape cases was highlighted in the 2008
thematic shadow report on VAWG, 148 which showed an increase in reporting but a falling
proportion of cases prosecuted and convicted. Whilst some efforts to reverse this trend have
been taken by the police, the Crown Prosecutors and through judges at trial, we have seen a very
small upward trend in the conviction rate to 6.5/7% of reported cases. A number of high profile
cases were noted by the Stern Review 149 in which the standard of investigation by the police
was sorely lacking. Rather than address this, and the impacts it has on public confidence, the
Government has suggested that the conviction rate should not be calculated from the number
of reports, but on those cases which are charged and prosecuted. This disguises the fact that
almost 80% of reported rapes never proceed beyond the police investigation stage. Women
reporting rape need an assurance that not only will their complaint be taken seriously, but that
it will be investigated properly by trained officers. Therefore, we would like to see the focus on
attrition rather than conviction rates, where less data exists. A focus on attrition gives a more
accurate picture of how women move through the CJS many women ‘drop out’ in the early
stages and so are not captured in the conviction rate: one in 25 women report rape and 82% of
reported rapes do not come to trial. 150
In 2012 a joint report 151 by the Chief Inspectors of Constabulary (HMIC) and the Crown
Prosecution Service Inspectorate looked at rape investigation and prosecution. They found
that progress has been made in relation to the needs of rape victims, but there is more to do.
Improvements must be made to the way the police gather and analyse intelligence material to
identify perpetrators of rape and more can be done to ensure that prosecutions are robust.
144. Coy, M., Kelly, L. and Foord, J. (2009) Map of Gaps 2: The postcode lottery of violence against women support services in Britain. Equality
and Human Rights Commission and End Violence Against Women Coalition: London http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/key-projects/
map-of-gaps/ and Women’s Resource Centre and Rape Crisis (England and Wales) (2008) The Crisis in Rape Crisis. WRC: London http://
www.thurrock-community.org.uk/sericc/pdf/wrc_crisis_full.pdf
145. Women’s Resource Centre and Rape Crisis (England and Wales) (2008) The Crisis in Rape Crisis. WRC: London http://www.thurrockcommunity.org.uk/sericc/pdf/wrc_crisis_full.pdf
; Coy, M., Lovett, J. and Kelly, L. (2008) Realising Rights, Fulfilling Obligations: A Template
for an Integrated Strategy on Violence Against Women for the UK. End Violence Against Women Coalition: London. http://www.
endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/resources/38/realising-rights-fulfilling-obligations; Coy, M., Kelly, L. and Foord, J. (2009) Map of Gaps
2: The postcode lottery of violence against women support services in Britain. Equality and Human Rights Commission and End Violence
Against Women Coalition: London http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/key-projects/map-of-gaps/
146. Welsh Assembly Government (2010) The Right to be Safe. Cardiff: WAG http://wales.gov.uk/topics/housingandcommunity/safety/
domesticabuse/publications/besafe/?lang=en
147. Welsh Assembly Government (2012) Consultation on legislation to end violence against women and domestic abuse (Wales) http://wales.
gov.uk/consultations/housingcommunity/vawwhitepaper/?lang=en
148. Sen, P. and Kelly, L. (2007) Violence Against Women in the UK: Shadow thematic report for the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination Against Women http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/docs/ngos/UKThematicReportVAW41.pdf
149. Government Equalities Office (2010) The Stern Review: A report by Baroness Vivien Stern CBE of an independent review into how
rape complaints are handled by public authorities in England and Wales. GEO: London http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.
uk/20100418065537/equalities.gov.uk/stern_review.aspx
150. Ministry of Justice, Home Office and Office for National Statistics (2013) An Overview of Sexual Offending in England and Wales. Statistics
bulletin http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/criminal-justice-stats/sexual-offending/sexual-offending-overview-jan-2013.pdf
151. Criminal Justice Joint Inspection (2012) Forging the links: Rape investigation and prosecution. A joint review by HMIC and HMCPSI. http://
www.hmcpsi.gov.uk/documents/reports/CJJI_THM/BOTJ/forging_the_links_rape_investigation_and_prosecution_20120228.pdf
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