Huge rise in number of rape victims coming forward, West Yorkshire Police reveals

The force says it received 3,561 reports of rape between November 2018 and 2019, which it said was a 25% increase on the 12 months before.

Assistant Chief Constable Catherine Hankinson said the reason for this was down to more victims being willing to come forward, as well as better crime recording.

The news comes off the back of the YEP's We Are The 95% series, in which survivors of rape speak out to highlight the tiny prosecution rates.

Just 4.4% of rapes reported to West Yorkshire Police between March 2017 and 2018 resulted in someone being charged.

Martha Ward was raped in early 2018 but said a previous experience of being raped at a hotel in Manchester the year before, in which the perpetrator was never charged, put her off reporting it.

Assistant Chief Constable Hankinson said she "could not stress enough" the importance of reporting sexual assaults, which are recognised as some of "the most traumatic experiences imaginable".

She said: "I cannot stress how important it is for victims to contact us, regardless of when they were offended against. Reporting gives us chance to safeguard victims and we must and do need to thoroughly investigate those who are accused of these offences.

"Victims may also be in need of immediate medical treatment and will most likely also desperately need emotional and psychological support as they seek to cope with the devastating impact of these offences.

"All offences are investigated by officers who are specially trained to support victims and who can, if victims give their consent, put them in contact with the specialist organisations and partner agencies we work with including a network of independent sexual violence advisors, who can offer support."

Meanwhile, Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves has vowed to raise the issue in Parliament, following the YEP's campaign.

She said: “I congratulate the YEP for highlighting this important issue. The gap between the number of reported rapes and the number of alleged attackers who are charged, let alone convicted, should concern us all.

“It is vital that we do all we can to support the survivors of rape to speak out against. Too many people remain silent because they do not have confidence in the system. We need to do far more as a society to bring perpetrators to justice and support victims.

“The Government must get a grip and ensure the funds are in place to bring offenders before the courts and provide the victims of rape all the support they need.”

The Assistant Chief Constable added: "With regards to managing investigations, we are undertaking a detailed piece of work to help us understand this large increase in recorded offending and increase the number of cases we refer to the CPS for charging decisions.

"West Yorkshire Police is very much on a par with other forces in facing the particular challenge and in seeking ways of addressing it.

"The force has a special ‘gatekeeper’ role in which an experienced senior detective reviews the quality of investigations and file submissions, and is also part of a national review with partners including other police forces, the CPS and the Home Office to improve the experience of a victim going through the criminal justice process.

"Given that rape investigations themselves are often highly complex and can be lengthy, we fully appreciate that going through them can be very difficult and want to do what we can to ease the impact on victims.

"It should be stated that prosecutions are going through the courts and persons are being brought to justice for these offences, with 72.5% of cases at court resulting in a conviction according to the latest figures for 2019-20.

"I realise there are improvements to be made and as a victim focused-organisation we want to achieve the best possible outcome for each victim and delivering that in more cases is a priority for the force."