Violence against Women and Girls Crime report contents

to 6,637, the highest volume ever recorded, this was 6.6%, out of all DA prosecutions, and 51.4% out
of all DA prosecutions contested at trial (excluding mixed pleas 62 ).
Dropped cases have fallen to the lowest level recorded at 18.2% of all prosecuted DA cases, from
19.3% in the previous year.
In this period, as in the previous years, offences against the person were the most frequently
prosecuted offences, representing 78.1% of DA crimes. Criminal damage and public order offences
accounted for a further 9.9% and 3.1% respectively 63 .
There was a slightly different pattern for male and female defendants:
Male defendants were responsible proportionally for slightly more offences against the
person, out of all offence types (78.2% of all male defendant offences, compared with 76.5%
female defendants 64 ) and more sexual offences (2.1% compared with 0.6% 65 ).
Female defendants were responsible slightly more proportionally for theft and handling out
of all offence types (2.6% of all female defendant offences, compared with 1.9% male
defendants 66 ); fraud and forgery (1.2% compared with 0.3% 67 ) and public order offences
(4.5% compared with 3.0% 68 ).
Unsuccessful outcomes that were due to victim issues 69 continued to fall – from 53.7% in 2014-15 to
52.5% in 2015-16. This was mainly due to a fall in the proportion of unsuccessful outcomes due to
victim retractions (falling from 26.8% in 2014-15 to 24.8% in 2015-16); however this was alongside a
slight rise in victim non-attendance (from 24.7% in 2014-15 to 25.5% in 2015-16).
Out of all DA cases prosecuted, the proportion that were unsuccessful due to victim issues 70 has
fallen from 14% in 2014-15 to 13.4%% in 2015-16. Support for victims through the court process is
important in reducing retractions and work with Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) or
equivalent local support services are key to improved prosecutions.
Area performance
The tables on pages 93-100 provide DA prosecution data by CPS Area and police forces. Since 2014-
15, a revised method of data interrogation and reporting has been used, which provides figures for
the British Transport Police (BTP) 71 in addition to the other 42 police forces. Data for the 13 CPS Areas
will not fully align with the data for their constituent police forces, as there will be a small number of
cross-border prosecutions between Areas, as well as data from BTP where available.
62 ‘Exclusive of mixed pleas’ are defendant cases where only ‘not guilty’ pleas are entered to all charges and a
trial ensues
63 See glossary for the CPS definitions of ‘principal offence’ and the different categories.
64 70,062 male defendants and 5,960 female defendants.
65 1,877 male defendants and 45 female defendants.
66 206 female defendants and 1,710 male defendants.
67 93 female defendants and 310 male defendants.
68 349 female defendants and 2,652 male defendants.
69 Victim issues include victim retractions, victim non-attendance and ‘evidence of victim does not support the
case’.
70 As in previous footnote.
71 Data from City of London police is included in London data.
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