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The unintended consequences of improving police recording of rape in England and Wales

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Lovett, Jo, Kelly, Liz and Vera-Gray, Fiona (2024) The unintended consequences of improving police recording of rape in England and Wales. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 18 (paae08). pp. 1-8. ISSN 1752-4520

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Abstract

A strong focus in recent policy and media coverage has been the increase in reporting of rape coupled with an associated fall in the charge rate, often attributed to victim withdrawal. Drawing on an analysis of 741 police case files as part of Operation Soteria we question each of these positions. We argue that changes to the Home Office Counting Rules since 2014 have resulted in the recording of a significant proportion of cases which are not reports from victim-survivors and which they did not consent to. Closing such cases at outcomes which make victim-survivors responsible is both inaccurate and leads to misperceptions of where the problems lie in rape investigations.

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