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Rape Investigations and the Police Interview: Perceptions, Practice and the Law in England and Wales
Thu, September 12, 1:00 to 2:15pm, Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, Floor: Ground floor, Room 1.04Abstract
In 2022, 67,169 reports of rape were made to the police. However, the vast majority of cases are not reported to the police; it is widely accepted that the prevalence of rape is largely part of a ‘dark figure of crime.’ The 1970s highlighted poor victim treatment from the police when reporting a rape. The police interview with victims of rape has been identified as a significant point of attrition due to its impact on potential subsequent prosecutions and court proceedings. Whilst the interview with victims of rape has been considered amongst many disciplines, there is a gap in considering the impact of legislative and best practice guidance in the context of police interviews with victims of rape.
The thesis will examine the history of issues in police investigations of rape, the role of police discretion, and the relationship between the police and the CPS in order to understand rape investigations. The thesis will examine legislative measures that govern the police interview, such as the Victims’ Code 2020 and the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. It will also examine best practice guidance in the context of police interviews with victims, such as Achieving Best Evidence 2020 and the National Operating Model for rape investigations. The current Draft Victims’ Bill may also create new legal obligations of police treatment of victims of rape during interviews.
This project has three empirical themes: interviews with police officers who have interviewed victims of rape; surveying interviews with victims of rape who have been interviewed by police officers; and case analysis of transcripts of police interviews with victims of rape. This paper will present the preliminary findings from the data collection of interviewing police officers who have interviewed victims of rape.