Rape and sexual assault victims are being ‘re-traumatised’ by 839-day waits over record court backlogs

Victims of rape and sexual assault are being “re-traumatised” after waiting years for their cases to be heard at court, a new report has revealed.

Rape Crisis England and Wales has today (27 March) published new data which uncovers a record backlog crisis in crown courts, with 7,859 sexual offences cases and 1,851 adult rape cases currently waiting to be heard. This means that victims and survivors of sexual violence are waiting the longest out of everyone for their cases to reach trial, with an average wait length of two years and 109 days from reporting the crime to its completion in court.

In its new report Breaking Point: The Re-Traumatisation of Rape and Sexual Abuse Survivors in the Crown Courts Backlog, the charity has highlighted the “devastating impact” this has on victims and survivors - with many experiencing deteriorating mental health and some attempting to end their lives as a result.

One mother told of how her daughter attempted to end her life when she heard her court date was being postponed again: “She spent five weeks in a specialist hospital in another part of the country. The emotional impact has been hugely exhausting.”

The lengthy delays also lead to victims dropping out of pursuing their case in the criminal justice system entirely, which Rape Crisis said “means perpetrators are free to continue to offend and survivors are left to pick up the pieces of their traumatic experiences”. Ronnie*, a victim and survivor of sexual assault, said that after waiting eight years for justice she felt she could no longer continue with the process.

“For it to take eight years... truly anyone with any kind of humane understanding would appreciate that this is not acceptable?” She said. “And who is checking on this case, why did it take this long?”

Meanwhile, The Guardian previously reported on a rape victim who had to wait five years for her case to come to court - and said that navigating the justice process has had a worse impact on her mental health than the crime itself.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request to HM Courts and Tribunals Service revealed that the number of delayed rape trials had more than doubled from 2019 - 2020 to 2021 - 2022.

The same data set showed that the number of trials that were postponed at least once has increased by 133% in that period, while the number of trials with three or more previous dates has almost doubled. There were also five times as many trials that had been rescheduled six or more times.

One of the most common reasons listed for delayed trials was the prosecution advocate failing to attend. According to the Justice Select Committee, this accounted for 1,925 cases in the year leading up to 20 June 2022, an increase of 1,722 in just two years.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The government is delivering real improvements in the response to rape – in the last year alone the number of rape cases referred by the police to the CPS is up more than 50%, the number of suspects charged has increased by 54%, and convictions are up by 65% compared to last year.

“But we know more needs to be done, particularly so that victims have confidence and feel supported, which is why we’ve quadrupled funding for victims’ services, enabled them to pre-record court evidence earlier and away from defendants, and launched a 24/7 helpline with Rape Crisis.”

Ellie Reeves, Labour’s Shadow Justice Minister, commented: “After 13 years of failure, the Conservatives are missing in action in the fight to tackle violence against women and girls. The number of CPS staff and courts has fallen since 2010, and the Government has left the system powerless to deal with the largest courts backlog on record. Rape survivors are now denied justice for years, with a fraction of the number of rapists being punished.

“Labour has made it a national mission to halve levels of violence against women and girls. We will speed up justice for victims by opening specialist rape courts to fast track these cases and increase the number of prosecutors to put rapists behind bars. That’s how we will prevent crime, punish criminals, and protect communities.”

Previously, a NationalWorld analysis of Home Office crime figures also found that if you reported a rape in England and Wales in 2020, there is a one in eight chance you were still waiting at the end of January 2022 for either the police or the Crown Prosecution Service to make a decision on whether to bring charges.

Jayne Butler, CEO at Rape Crisis England and Wales, said: “In ‘Breaking Point’, we shine a light on the disastrous impact that the increasing backlog in the Crown Courts is having on rape and sexual abuse victims and survivors. The postponing and rescheduling of cases multiple times is devastating the mental wellbeing of victims and survivors: they are being harmed by the criminal justice system.

“On top of lengthy police investigations lasting years, and long periods of hearing nothing, victims and survivors are facing their cases being rescheduled in the Courts – often multiple times – or finding that they have not been informed about key developments, such as changes to trial dates. Whether intentional or not, this further marginalises victims and survivors, who already feel de-prioritised in  an imbalanced system.”

The charity is therefore calling for the system to be reformed, and has provided a series of recommendations. These include:

• Priority listing should be given to rape and serious sexual offences cases. This would ensure these cases have a guaranteed, fixed trial date, and could never be postponed due to a judge or court not being allocated.
• The introduction of Specialist Sexual Offence Courts. These would include special allowances, such as the choice of pre-recording the evidence of witnesses and specialist trauma-informed training for all personnel.
• A pilot of judge-only trials. Rape Crisis says the government should for a specific period “urgently commit” to piloting judge-only trials in the Local Criminal Justice Board areas where there are the highest backlogs in cases.
• Provide increased, more long-term funding for specialist sexual violence and abuse services. “Long-term funding is required by the sexual violence and abuse sector who provide specialist services and live-saving support for survivors going through the criminal justice system, often for many years,” the charity said.
• A long-term strategy to recruit and retain criminal barristers.

If you have been affected by issues discussed in this article, Rape Crisis has a 24-hour helpline which you can call for free on 0808 500 2222.