Rape victims 'failed' and left in limbo at long delays for decision on whether to charge alleged offenders

Rape charities have highlighted concern at figures highlighting the length of time it takes for police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to reach a resolution in cases.

Hampshire Constabulary, responding to worries over the impact on victims, has insisted it is starting to see the results of greater collaboration with the CPS to reduce the time a case takes to get to court.

It comes after analysis by The News’ sister publication NationalWorld of Home Office crime outcome figures. These reveal that it is far from unusual for alleged rape victims to have to contend with such long waits – it is even commonplace.

If you reported a rape in England and Wales in 2020, there is a one in eight chance you were still waiting at the end of January 2022 for either the police or the CPS to make a decision on whether to bring charges.

The database shows there were 6,816 rape offences first recorded in 2020 that still had no outcome assigned to them by January 2022. That was 12.5 per cent of all rapes recorded in 2020.

‘No outcome assigned’ means the police, in conjunction with the CPS, had neither decided to bring charges, nor to close the case with an unsuccessful outcome – leaving victims stuck in limbo.