Rape has effectively been decriminalised under the Conservative Party because of a lack of political will to tackle violence against women and girls, Labour frontbencher Ellie Reeves has said.
In an interview with the PA news agency, Ms Reeves, who is currently serving in Sir Keir Starmer’s top team in Parliament as shadow justice minister, set out Labour’s plan to eliminate gender-based violence.
She said she would make tackling violence against women and girls her “number one priority” if the Labour Party wins the next election.
Labour would introduce specialist rape courts, a domestic violence register, tougher sentencing for rape and legal advocates for rape survivors.
The Lewisham West and Penge MP accused the Government of lacking the political will, as even if ministers say they want to tackle violence against women and girls, “their actions tell a bit of a different story”.
“If you have the political will, you would just get on and do it. And that seems to be lacking.
They are not the party of law and order, Labour is, because we are saying we would actually do these things and get on with doing them— Ellie Reeves
“They are not the party of law and order, Labour is, because we are saying we would actually do these things and get on with doing them,” she said.
After pointing to figures published by the Ministry of Justice last year, which revealed the average current wait time between an offence and completion of a criminal rape case was 1,000 days in 2021, Ms Reeves explained how specialist rape courts would help the problem.
She said: “Within the courts, you would have judges who are routinely hearing rape cases, so they understand the issues, they have had training in myths and stereotypes about victims.
“And a court staff equally that understands the complexity of these cases.
“It’s a big area for us: setting up those specialist rape courts and getting them in every single Crown Court in the country and getting those rape cases listed and listed quickly.”
On the domestic abuse register recently announced by the Government, Ms Reeves said Labour had been calling for it for months.
Asked whether she stands by comments she once made during justice questions in the Commons that the Tories have effectively decriminalised rape, she said: “I do stand by the comments and when prosecutions for rape are only one in 100, you have effectively decriminalised rape.”
At the time, Conservative former cabinet minister Dame Andrea Leadsom told MPs she was “disgusted” by the shadow minister’s comments, arguing they undermine “the confidence of women across this country in our judicial system”.
Ms Reeves said: “Frankly, it’s not my words that are deterring women from coming forward, it is this Government’s inaction in tackling violence against women and girls that’s letting women down and deterring them from coming forward.”
For the year to September 2022, Home Office figures show that across England and Wales, rape had the lowest charge rate across all crimes, with just 1.6% of rapes recorded by police leading to prosecution.
Pressed on the figures at justice questions earlier this month, justice minister Edward Argar said the number of people convicted of an adult rape offence went up by 65% over the past year; compared to pre-pandemic levels, convictions are up by 41%.
Ms Reeves also complained about the fact “there are no minimum sentences for rapists”, adding: “What we would do in Government is introduce a minimum sentence of seven years, we think that that would send a really, really clear signal that this sort of behaviour is just absolutely abhorrent and wrong.”
In relation to legal advocates, Ms Reeves said they would drive up prosecution, drive up standards but also support victims throughout the process, “from the moment they report it at a police station right through to trial”.
It would cost “just shy of £4 million to roll out across the country”.
The Labour MP, who is also the younger sister of shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, said championing the rights of women is something that has always been “really important” to her.
“In my role as an employment rights lawyer before entering Parliament, I represented trade unions and trade union members, but a lot of the work that I did was representing women that face discrimination at work, so sex discrimination, maternity discrimination, those sorts of cases.”
She then set up her own legal consultancy, called Working Mums Advisory, with the aim of providing affordable legal advice and advocacy to women.
Mr Argar insisted Labour’s action on serious crime “don’t match their empty words”.
The justice minister added: “They have consistently voted against tougher sentences for rape and failed to properly support victims when they were in power.
“This Government has increased sentences, quadrupled funding for victims, increased rape convictions by two thirds last year and just this week announced that we are putting the most dangerous domestic abusers on the sex offenders register.
“Only the Conservatives can be trusted to deliver the support and justice that victims of rape deserve.”
