 The government has been 'too quick' to claim support for rape victims has improved, campaigners say. Ministers say 'significant progress' has been made to ensure better support for victims, as a progress report looking at the Home Office and Ministry of Justice found they have met two key ambitions ahead of schedule. Those two ambitions were to restore both the number of police referrals and cases reaching court to 2016 levels. The report, published today, comes as all 43 police forces across England and Wales, and all rape prosecutors, start to implement a new approach to dealing with rape and other serious sexual offences bringing together police and academics. 19 police forces are already trying this new approach, called Operation Soteria, and the report says there are 'early signs of improvements' in those areas. But Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: 'While we have seen some progress, the government have been too quick to claim that they've tangibly changed the justice system for rape survivors. 'We're barely off the starting blocks, but we now have a roadmap which is going to need a lot of support to realise its ambitions. 'It still remains the case that the vast majority of rape survivors don't report to the police, and the majority who do will leave the system altogether due to the barriers to justice they find themselves up against. Suella Braverman said 'As a society, too often we have failed the victims of sexual violence' (Picture: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Yvette Cooper said Labour would introduce rape courts (Picture: House of Commons) 'Ultimately, given that the majority of survivors do not report to the police, we need to make sure action to address sexual violence looks beyond the criminal justice system and prioritises prevention work with young people in schools and through wider public inf){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
The government has been ‘too quick’ to claim support for rape victims has improved, campaigners say.
Ministers say ‘significant progress’ has been made to ensure better support for victims, as a progress report looking at the Home Office and Ministry of Justice found they have met two key ambitions ahead of schedule.
Those two ambitions were to restore both the number of police referrals and cases reaching court to 2016 levels.
The report, published today, comes as all 43 police forces across England and Wales, and all rape prosecutors, start to implement a new approach to dealing with rape and other serious sexual offences bringing together police and academics.