Rape - enhanced police response
01 January 1991
Rape - enhanced police response
bacdoc November=1991
Written answer 17 July 1990 Cols 470-471
Dame Jill Knight asked the Secretary of State for the Home
Department, what action the government has been taken since 1987
to tackle the crime of rape.
Mr Patten, Minister of State at the Home Office replied:
The Government continues to attach a high priority to action
against rape, including the detection and punishment of
offenders; the provision of help and support to victims; and the
development of prevention policies.
The enhanced police response to rape allegations is reflected
in the increases in the recorded crime statistics. Victims of
rape have been encouraged to come forward. Changes in police
practice have meant that a higher proportion of rape allegations
have been recorded as crimes. A high percentage of recorded rapes
are cleared up by the police (71 per cent. in 1987 and 74 per
cent. in 1989) and the police now have their disposal improved
detection methods such as DNA fingerprinting, with which to
provide the courts with evidence of guilt. The maximum penalty
for attempted rape was increased to life imprisonment in 1985.
In 1986 the Court of Appeal gave guidance on sentencing in rape
cases in R v Billam. Since 1987, over 70 per cent. of convicted
rapists have received sentences of five years or more.
In line with Home Office guidance issued in October 1986, the
police are increasingly alert to the special needs of rape
victims. Rape examination suites have been set up where
distressed victims can be examined in comforting surroundings and
by a woman doctor wherever possible; interviews with victims are
usually also conducted by women police officers. The aim is to
treat victims sensitively and to provide them with full
information about medical, support and counselling services after
their ordeal.
Anonymity for rape victims was strengthened in the Criminal
Justice Act 1988. It is now an offence to publish or broadcast
the name or address or a still or moving picture of a woman after
an allegation has been made that she has been the victim of a
rape offence, if that is likely to lead members of the public to
identify her as the alleged victim. The prohibition applies
during the whole of the woman's lifetime, unless the courts make
a specific direction to the contrary, and it applies whether
proceedings follow or not; if they do, it applies in relation to
civil as well as criminal proceedings.
The Home Office is providing ¼4.5 million this year towards
the cost of local victim support schemes. These now cover over
94 per cent. of the population of England and Wales and are
helping increasing numbers of victims of serious crime, including
rape victims. Improved understanding of the nature of crimes is
desirable as a basis for developing prevention policies. In
February 1989, we published two important research studies about
rape, "Changes in rape offences and sentences" (Home Office
Research Study 105) and "Concerns about rape" (Home Office
Research Study 106). Among other findings, the studies suggest
that women are more likely to be raped by someone they know than
by a stranger, and that more rapes take place indoors than in
public places. The reports are in the Library.
The latest edition of our crime prevention handbook "Practical
Ways to Crack Crime" encourages women to take common-sense
precautions to reduce the risk of attack.
Arrangements for the treatment of sex-offenders in prison
custody and their treatment and supervision in the community are
being reviewed by a Prison Service Working Party and by Her
Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation. This work should contribute
to the development of improved provision for the treatment of
offenders, so that they are less likely to re-offend.