Long delays and a massive increase in the rescheduling of rape trials are having a devastating impact on victims’ mental health and leading some victims to take their own lives, according to a major new report.
Data from a freedom of information request by Rape Crisis England and Wales has revealed that the number of rape trials that were “vacated” and “ineffective” – and as a result delayed – more than doubled from 2019-2020 to 2021-2022.
Data from HM Courts and Tribunal Service also shows that the number of trials that were postponed at least once increased by 133%, while the number of trials with three or more previous trial dates has almost doubled over the same time frame. There were five times as many trials that had been rescheduled six or more times.
Strikes by criminal barristers have increased the crown court backlog, which stood at 62,766 outstanding cases (for all crimes) at the end of September 2022. In the last quarter of available data, the number of adult rape and sexual offence cases in the crown court backlog has increased by more than 1,000, said Rape Crisis.
A lack of prosecution barristers is a growing problem, according to the report. According to evidence given to the justice select committee, in the 12 months to June 2020 there were 1,925 delayed trials because there was no prosecution barrister, an increase of 1,722 in just two years.
“The postponing and rescheduling of cases multiple times is devastating the mental wellbeing of victims and survivors: they are being harmed by the criminal justice system,” said Jayne Butler, chief executive officer at Rape Crisis England & Wales.
“On top of lengthy police investigations lasting years, and long periods of hearing nothing, victims and survivors are facing their cases being rescheduled in the courts – often multiple times – or find that they have not been informed about key developments, like changes to trial dates.”
In the report Breaking Point: the re-traumatisation of rape and sexual abuse survivors in the crown courts backlog, the charity is calling for the creation of specialist sexual violence and abuse courts, a pilot for judge-only rape trials, and for rape and sexual abuse cases to be given “priority listing” and guaranteed court dates.
It was also leading to victims dropping out of the system, and rapists going free, said the report. Ronnie*, who spoke to the report, disclosed child sexual abuse in 2015. After the barristers strikes, her trial was rescheduled for summer 2023 – eight years after she reported the crime. Exhausted and traumatised, she withdrew from the case. She told the report’s authors: “For the process to take eight years … truly anyone with any kind of humane understanding would appreciate this is not acceptable?”
Another woman who talked to the authors said her trial had been rescheduled twice. A survivor of multiple rapes and sexual abuse, coercion and control, and physical abuse, she was not able to access the therapy she needed and attempted to take her own life. Her alleged abuser is due to go on trial in the spring.
“You go through the most traumatic thing of your life and then you’re told you can’t talk about it. I think it’s absolutely barbaric,” she said.
This week the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, vowed to halve violence against women and girls within a decade and introduce dedicated “rape courts”.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the government was investing £477m to 2025 to tackle the crown court backlog and was delivering improvements in the response to rape.
They said: “But we know more needs to be done, particularly so that victims have confidence and feel supported, which is why we’ve quadrupled funding for victims’ services, enabled them to pre-record court evidence earlier and away from defendants, and launched a 24/7 helpline with Rape Crisis.”
* Not her real name.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
