Prosecution rates when accuser has learning difficulties condemned
Rape of vulnerable women, especially those with learning
difficulties, has effectively been “decriminalised”, according to a
research academic employed by the country’s largest police force.
The claim is made by Professor Betsy Stanko, who is currently the
Metropolitan Police’s assistant director of planning and has been
researching the force’s investigation of rape for 10 years.
In a draft, unpublished report obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Professor Stanko claims that despite a decade of reform the percentage of prosecutions and convictions of rape has remained consistently low. She says this is largely because two thirds of rape allegations drop out during the police investigation stage.
The problem is particularly acute for people with vulnerabilities such as mental health issues and learning difficulties for whom the likelihood of getting their cases solved is extremely remote.
“These women face almost unsurmountable obstacles to justice,” Professor Stanko says. “Their rape is highly unlikely to carry a sanction, and in that sense, it is decriminalised.”
Her research shows that people with mental health issues are 40 per cent less likely to have their case referred to the police for prosecution than people without these difficulties. People with learning difficulties were 67 per cent less likely to have their case referred.
“Victim vulnerabilities effectively protect suspects from being perceived as credible rapists,” she says.
Read more...
In a draft, unpublished report obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Professor Stanko claims that despite a decade of reform the percentage of prosecutions and convictions of rape has remained consistently low. She says this is largely because two thirds of rape allegations drop out during the police investigation stage.
The problem is particularly acute for people with vulnerabilities such as mental health issues and learning difficulties for whom the likelihood of getting their cases solved is extremely remote.
“These women face almost unsurmountable obstacles to justice,” Professor Stanko says. “Their rape is highly unlikely to carry a sanction, and in that sense, it is decriminalised.”
Her research shows that people with mental health issues are 40 per cent less likely to have their case referred to the police for prosecution than people without these difficulties. People with learning difficulties were 67 per cent less likely to have their case referred.
“Victim vulnerabilities effectively protect suspects from being perceived as credible rapists,” she says.
Read more...
