Rape Conviction Rate Now At An All-time High

Crown Prosecution Service statistics show 63 per cent of rape cases reach court

The UK's rape conviction rate is at an all-time high, according to statistics released by the Crown Prosecution Service.

The statistics, released as a response to claims that too few cases reach the courts, show that 63 per cent of rape cases result in a conviction.

There were 3,692 prosecutions for rape last year, resulting in 2,333 convictions. This rate is the highest number ever recorded – a five per cent rise since 2007/8.

There has also been a one per cent increase in the conviction rate for domestic violence cases in the past year, totaling at 74 per cent. In 2005/6 it was 60 per cent. There were 70,702 cases last year, ending in 52,549 convictions and 18,153 acquittals.

Emily Thornberry, Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, spoke in parliament about the number of rape and domestic violence cases referred to the CPS that did not result in prosecutions.

Thornberry referred to figures that showed that despite the rise in the number of prosecutions, the number of cases where the CPS took no further action remained consistent. In 2008, 25.8 per cent of domestic violence cases passed on to the CPS had no further action.

 Four years later in 2012, the number of cases where the CPS recommended no charges was exactly the same – 25.8 per cent, despite the number of referred cases rising by 9,007.

Thornberry said: 'Given that the CPS has rightly made violence against women and girls a priority, I would have expected this proportion to fall.

'Some progress has been made with rape prosecutions but the fact that one in two cases are not taken up at all still seems very high… The perpetrators are walking free.'

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