Referrals, charges and prosecutions for rape all increased in the year ending March 2022, with the number of prosecutions alone rising by 62.9%. This number equates to an increase of 980 cases, with prosecution figures rising from 1557 in 2020-21 to 2537 in 2021-22.a government review promised an overhaul of the criminal justice system
However, women’s rights campaigners have warned that this progress is “not enough” to fix the system as a whole – especially in light of the fact that“We are deeply ashamed”: the government apologises for failing rape survivors “What’s more, the CPS have failed to include data on timeliness of cases, when we know that rape survivors often face years for their case to go to court, if it gets there at all – far longer than victims of other types of crime.”The Met isn’t giving rape victims the support they need, London’s victims’ commissioner says
“Close joint working from the very start of an investigation means we can build the best possible cases more quickly. With police going to the CPS earlier in the process and more often, the rise in charging decisions will lead to more trials and more convictions.