Women Against Rape's submission to the Metropolitan Police Authority's Consultation

Which policing issues are of particular concern to you?

1. Negligent response to sexual violence, its investigation & prosecution.

As we have pointed out for years, the vast majority of women’s reports go unprosecuted, some are scarcely investigated.  This has serious and often fatal implications which we raised in our evidence to the Bichard Inquiry into the murders at Soham – Huntley was reported nine times for rape and sexual assault, while the previous non-prosecution of “Camden Ripper” Anthony Hardy is not even being looked into.  The 1 May 2005 Observer report, “Scandal of justice revolution that betrayed rape victims”, confirmed our experience.  While the CPS and others are also to blame, much depends on the thoroughness of the initial investigation.  When criticised, the police reduce the problem to bureaucratic “mistakes”, lack of funding, or lack of communication, and refuse to address the sexism and other prejudice, including racism when the victim is a person of colour, which are at the heart of negligent or half-hearted investigation and prosecution. Rape victims as well as those officers who would like to do their duty properly are thus betrayed.

2. Police response to women reporting sexual violence.

Women contact us after the police refuse to protect them from violent partners, refuse to investigate or discourage them from pursuing a prosecution.  Women who complain face hostility by police who refuse to acknowledge fault.  Other concerns include the dismissal or careless recording of key evidence, lack of privacy, prejudiced assumptions (so a statement is seen as pointless and is rushed), or endlessly going over events with the victim yet distorting her account.  Women’s and children’s words and actions are torn to pieces, men’s explanations are more likely to be believed.  Irrelevant questions about sexual history, lifestyle, other relationships and medical history are put to the victim but not to the accused.  Home Office research shows that although no-criming of rape has fallen, this is offset by police discontinuing more cases.  Some officers discourage women by graphically describing how courts will put them on trial, etc.  They have even pressed some women to say they lied.  These practices fatally undermine prosecutions, yet to our knowledge police mishandling of a rape case has never led to the dismissal of any officer.

3. Prioritising minor crime over violence against people

We are very concerned that crimes against property, especially minor offences like graffiti, and political agendas which have little to do with tackling serious violent crime, regularly attract huge resources.  For example, ASBOs are enforced against vulnerable women with alcohol problems, young people in crisis and sex workers; and £7m was spent investigating Black officer Ali Dezaei for professional misconduct.  There seems to be less money for rape investigations.  High priorities should be: rape, including in marriage; domestic violence; child abuse; sexual assault, including racist sexual assault; other racist attacks; homophobic attacks; other violence against women and children.  We would like to know what proportion of the Met budget and officer time go into rape, sexual assault and domestic violence compared to other crimes.  The Observer quoted lower ranked officers complaining that rape investigations are undermined by inadequate funding and being left in the hands of unqualified, inexperienced detectives.

4. Racist misrepresentation and exploitation of the issue of rape

Project Sapphire previously investigated “group rape”, i.e. gang rape.  The police focus on gang rape has put forward a racist agenda promoted by the media.  In January 2004, Scotland Yard claimed that gang rape is mostly perpetrated by “lawless” young Black men against white women.  According to the Observer, Project Sapphire insisted their initiative had nothing to do with race.  As the police are repeatedly found to be institutionally racist, they are not in a position to judge.  When the victim is a woman or child of colour, sexism and racism combine against her.  For example, a young Black woman who reported rape and assault by two men, whom she accompanied because one was a trusted family friend, complained to us that the police grilled her about her sexual history, pursuing one man’s story that she was paid for sex.  Yet it should have been obvious from her physical injuries that she had been violently attacked.

5.     More research is not the priority.

Police resources have been taken up with investigating the prevalence of drug rape, and other “types” of attack which become high-profile after media coverage.  Research is not the priority.  Women reporting rape in all circumstances suffer similar bias and dismissal, often regardless of whether or not there are any grounds for accusing them of acting irresponsibly.  The priority is unbiased, careful and determined investigation of rape, including that committed by partners and boyfriends. 

6.     Stop prosecuting consenting sex between adults

Consenting sex between adults, including prostitution, should not be the business of the law.  We know that many police officers agree that an awful lot of money is wasted arresting vulnerable women rather than protecting them from violence.  We would like to know how much of the police budget goes into the policing of prostitution, both on the street and indoors.

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