Essay on Sexual Assault in England and Wales: Worrying Reduction in Reported Cases

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of male and female subjected to sexual assaults in England and Wales. However, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), 2017 the number of sex assaults reported and convicted in England and Wales has reduced drastically to a worrying level. In these countries, most rape cases are not reported to police, and if they do, they are no conviction of the offender. Lack of evidence is the most reason why many of these cases do not proceed further than the police investigation. Likewise, the long process of rape proceedings associated with traumatizing screening and questioning is the major explanations why many people do not report them. Many rape victims are also worried of lack of justice as they have analyzed that most people suspected of committing rape do not pay for the crime. According to Dearden (2019), approximately 92% of the assaults result in criminals being accused or summonsed in Wales and England. The number of sexual cases reported to the police and convicted in court continues to decrease by almost 30,000 in the last two years. Statistics published by Home Office demonstrates that the number of crimes prosecuted in England and Wales declined drastically in the last two years. According to the figures, by the end of September 2018, only 8.2 % of 5 million offenses were convicted. Moreover, the figure was a drop from 9.5% in 2017. The offenses dropped across all types such as theft, robbery, violence, weapon possession and drugs. Sexual assaults were the lowest with a figure on 4% reported to the police and only 1.9% of the recorded cases prosecuted in courts. Moreover, this was a drop from 2.4% in the in 2018. The above statistics show that the criminal justice system in both England and Wales does not give rape victims hope of seeing the criminal paying for the crime. The purpose of the paper is to examine the current explanations for the low reporting and conviction rates of the offense of rape in England and Wales.

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Feminists define sexual assault is at close prevalent levels and that the figures of the recorded cases may be greater than the reflected. Sexual assault is the single most underreported major offense. According to the Searles (2018) rape depends on the definition used for example if strangers and/or weapons are included then the crime is seen to be relatively rare. Moreover, when simple cases are included for instance a woman who is coerced by her husband to have sex, then assault appears to be far less common and massively underreported. The definition of rape has been changing for decades until recently when it was clearly explained. In the early days, the common law under the Sexual Offences Amendment Act 1976 defined rape as illegal sexual contact with a female without her approval. This is done through fraud, fear or force to the woman. However, this definition concentrated on only one side of the crime, the penetration of penis and disregarded other types of sexual assault such as forced oral sex. The definition was improved by the Sexual Offences Act (2003) to include the missing framework about rape. The new definition improved the punishment for sexual assault which was extended to ten years. Prior to the reform, sexual offenses were only meant to the women but it neutralized it to both genders. The reform improved the legal framework of rape because it was perceived to affect only women and girls by both society and law. Now it became clear that the offense can happen to men by women or other men this being a marked achievement for feminist activists.

The current criminal justice system in England and Wales has failed to execute its responsibility in fighting against rape crimes. Sampson (2003) illustrate people have lost hope because although most rape cases occur, they are not reported because the police officer may not take the case serious hence they are reluctant to record them. Another reason is that if the victim reports the crime and the police record them there is a possibility that the perpetrator will not be identified. Moreover, if the offender is accused in the court of law there is a possibility that the jury will not convict him/her. Therefore, the process of achieving justice in the criminal system is very complex and most people do not report the cases to avoid the lengthy process in the system. This has been causing an alarmingly low sentence rate when it comes to rape. There are several reasons why many sexual assaults are not reported to the police. First, most people take time before deciding whether or not to report a simple or major rape. This is the most essential step that not many victims are willing to take. One of the major reasons why rape victims are reluctant to report to the police is that they are afraid of exposing their problems to strangers. Rape victims have to narrate in details of how the incident occurred to convince the police that they did not give their consent. They also undergo screening in their private parts to test the DNA of the offender and prove that sexual intercourse occurred at a specific time. Most people do not want to undergo these procedures hence they prefer not to report the cases.

Another reason why rape victims may fail to report the incident to the police is that they may feel that it was not unlawful. For instance, a woman who goes out on a private date and gets raped may feel that she also contributed to the incident and hence accept it. Likewise, a woman may feel that the actual penetration did not occur because she was able to resist. Therefore, she may feel that since the actual act never happened the incident cannot be regarded as rape. According to Koss and Cook (1998), although the recent definition of rape has changed from just the penetration, people are not aware of it. Moreover, society still believes that rape is the real process of penetration and hence if it fails it is regarded otherwise. Therefore, the victims are reluctant to report because they are not certain of what constitutes rate. Those who do not understand or are unaware of the recent definition do not make rape reports to the police hence lowering the figures. Police disbelief or hostility has also contributed to low rates of reporting because the victim experiences a hard time trying to convince them about the incident. When rape victims suspect that the police may be hostile to them they lose confidence and choose not to report. Moreover, many rape victims analyze the chances that the convictions which are low in England and Wales and conclude not to report because they feel it would be a waste of their time and money. Therefore they refuse to provide evidence when they suspect that the offender may not face justice. The victims undergo cross-examination in the courtroom making rape victims anxious. The evidence is not always available hence the court relies on cross-examination to decide the case. Most of them argue that the experience in the courtroom is as traumatizing as the rape incidence hence they choose not to experience it. To avoid scrutiny, most the rape victims are unwilling to report the incident and therefore it is not clear how many assaults take place in the two countries.

Rape Process, Attrition

The process of seeking rape evidence is long at the start the moment the case is reported to the police. The police play a major role in the determination of case progression to court depending on how serious they take it. When the police feel that the case is invalid they record it as no-crime and do fail to seek for evidence because they assume that it does not meet the requirement. In this case, they believe that the possibility of prosecution of further proceedings is low. It is important to note that the police make initial decisions on the case investigations and this may affect the entire jury process. The jury process as long as it starts from the moment a crime is reported to the police to the sentence itself so that it is recorded officially. The rates of attrition are therefore high in non-stranger cases increasing the rate of low reporting and convictions due to discrimination. The criminal justice system has lost many cases because of attrition which can be viewed that such a serious crime can be unpunished. Women activists and groups have been complaining about reform in the judicial system to change the way court proceedings and convictions are made but in vain. These reforms can only be achieved by reshaping the process of trial and minor procedural alterations are unlikely to have much of an effect on worryingly high attrition rates.

Increase in Acquaintance Sexual Assaults

Another current explanation for the low reporting and conviction rates of rape offense in England and Wales is the steady increase in acquaintance assaults. These rapes do not meet the required criteria because the victim feels that they also took part in the outcome of the incident. Sometimes the criminal is a close friend or family member and the victim may choose not to report the matter because they do not want them to be jailed. It is also difficult to convict current rape cases in England and Wales because most victims are raped by people they know or have had a close relationship. The jury may not clearly determine that it was forced sex or the victim was willing. According to Lonsway, Archambault, Lisak (2009), the rates of acquaintance rapes in 2000 were 39% while those of stranger rape was 11%. These intimate assaults committed by close friends, boyfriends, or partners results in low reporting and convictions because the criminal justice system lacks enough evidence. Walklate (2013) also argue that acquaintance assaults are less likely to be reported or convicted because in most cases the victims decide to withdraw the case before the sentence. Currently, many reported rape offenses are committed by acquaintance resulting in low conviction rates.

Problem about Consent

Many rape cases brought to trial are not convicted due to the problem of consent. The case between a man and a woman or any other is hard to prove that the defendant did not approve the action. It is not easy to differentiate between the truth and makeup stories that people create to ruin the other person's life. Unlike other crimes, sexual assaults depend on whether consent or non-consent can be recognized. In these cases, the victim must prove non-consent unless the circumstances clearly show that there was no approval, for instance, the case of a minor. Victims' non-consent has long been viewed as the rubric under which all of the issues in a rape case are addressed. McGregor (2017) argues that rape should not be defined on rounds of rape but not in terms of non-consent. Therefore, it is evident that the subject of the agreement is fundamental to the sexual assault trial. The major concern is how the victims prove that there was no agreement. Moreover, it is difficult to define consent in sexual consent because a victim may give in without saying the words. According to Western (2004) in all sexual assaults especially with a known person the field of the agreement is widespread with types and results into different mistakes. The term consent may mean different things to different people in different fields.

Evidence

Sexual assaults happen in private without an eye witness. Providing sufficient evidence that proves beyond reasonable doubts that indeed the assault occurred is the reason why there are low convictions. Moreover, the possibility of conviction decreases because the incidents are determined by those in power. They are able to hide the credible evid...