Rape victims 'should get more support to repair lives'

Hundreds of independent workers would help those whose lives were torn apart by sexual violence make sense of the police inquiry and the prosecution of those responsible.

The review into the way public authorities handle cases of sexual violence praised the work of specialist rape investigation units in Yorkshire.

Baroness Stern said the work of teams, such as the Apollo Unit in South Yorkshire, was impressive and recommended police chiefs closely assess the benefits and consider rolling them out further.

Speaking at the launch of her review, Lady Stern said: "We must take a broader approach to measuring success in dealing with rape, a unique and very difficult crime to deal with.

"The conviction rate has taken over the debate to the detriment of other important outcomes for victims. Prosecuting and convicting is of course important but my view is that support and care for victims should be as high a priority."

The crossbench peer said her work focused on turning policy into "action on the ground" and called for misleading statistics around rape, particularly the often quoted six per cent conviction rate, to be put in context as they are unnecessarily undermining the confidence of victims.

She was tasked with undertaking an independent review into the way rape is handled by public authorities in England and Wales, from complaint to the verdict of a court.

Her team spent five months interviewing police officers, local authority officials, members of the Crown Prosecution Service, health workers and third sector organisations.

They made a series of recommendations to improve the response, from a review of how statistics are compiled to shaking up the use of video interview evidence and the role of forensic medical examiners.

The report found that the claim that only six per cent of rapes lead to a conviction is misleading because it is based on all complaints to police, not all complaints brought to court. Almost 60 per cent of those charged with rape are convicted.

The implementation of good policies is "patchy" and must be improved and further research should be undertaken into false allegations of rape to better understand how often it happens and the reasons behind it.

The report also found that the NHS should take over responsibility for the forensic medical examination of sex attack victims from police forces, the quality of video interviews with rape victims is of "considerable concern" and the reduction of compensation to rape victims because they have been drinking, have previous convictions or did not report the attack immediately must stop.