susanna
reid:
page 55
Daily Mail, Thursday, March 5, 2020^
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magazine
Page 41
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A
F TER the horror of
rape, you would hope
bringing an attacker to
justice might offer some
form of closure.
Yet the reality is far more complex —
and, sadly, the experience of reporting
sexual offences can be both gruelling and
disheartening for victims. A look at the
numbers illuminates the scope of the
problem. It’s estimated that each year,
more than half a million women are
sexually assaulted, as well as more than
100,000 men. Yet official figures show
that only one in six rape victims ever
report what happened to police.
Of those who did, just 1.7 per cent of
allegations resulted in a charge or
summons in 2018. And the most recent
statistics show that even in the small
proportion of cases where a suspect is
identified and a prosecution is pursued,
h a l f t h e v i c t i m s d r o p o u t d u r i n g
the process.
The reasons are complex but there is
no denying the road to justice can be
brutal. It involves intimate medical
checks, hours of police interviews,
I’ll take a self
help book over
a novel any day!
Convictions are
at a record low
... and here one
brave woman
reveals a reason
why: seeking
justice can feel
like another
form of abuse
The diary of
my rape case
Picture: GETTY / PosEd bY ModEl
INTERVIEW by Rebecca Evans