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<p>This Government is committed to improving the criminal justice system’s response
to rape. In 2019, we commissioned our end-to-end Rape Review, publishing this in 2021
alongside a clear Action Plan that committed to delivering sustained improvements
for victims. In this Action Plan, we set ourselves stretching ambitions to return
the volumes of adult rape cases being referred by the police, charged by the CPS,
and going to court back to 2016 levels by the end of this Parliament.</p><p> </p><p>We
have exceeded each of these ambitions ahead of schedule. In practice, this means we
have more than doubled the volumes of police referrals, charges, and cases reaching
court compared to when the Review was commissioned in 2019.</p><p> </p><p>Increases
to conviction volumes or conviction rates were not included as ambitions for the Rape
Review. The right to a fair trial means that juries should rightly make decisions
independently and based on the facts of the case.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst not being a
Rape Review ambition, the Ministry of Justice does hold data on convictions for rape
offences.</p><p> </p><p>Published data for calendar years (from 2010 to 2022) can
be found in the following tool: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65bcce7b63a23d0013c820f5/outcomes-by-offence-2022-revised.xlsx"
target="_blank">Outcomes by Offence tool: December 2022</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The most
recent published data available, providing data for the years ending in June from
2011 until 2023, can be found in the following tool: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65bd0675704282000d752143/outcomes-by-offence-june-2023.xlsx"
target="_blank">Outcomes by Offence tool: June 2023</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The full calendar
year for 2023 will be available in the next update of the Outcomes by Offence tool,
expected in May 2024.</p><p> </p><p>This can be accessed by navigating to the ‘<em>Prosecutions
and convictions</em>’ tab and using the <em>Offence</em> filter to select the following
offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tool:</p><ul><li>19C Rape of a female aged
16 or over</li><li>19D Rape of a female aged under 16</li><li>19E Rape of a female
child under 13 by a male</li><li>19F Rape of a male aged 16 or over</li><li>19G Rape
of a male aged under 16</li><li>19H Rape of a male child under 13 by a male</li></ul><p>
</p><p>To cover the full period requested, previously unpublished convictions for
rape offences from 2005 to 2009 have now been provided in Table 1.</p><p> </p><p>It
is not advised to use this data to calculate conviction rate (the number of convictions
as a proportion of the number of prosecutions). This is due to the Court Proceedings
Database counting two separate records at two separate stages (one for prosecution,
one for conviction). We cannot track the defendant throughout their court journey
and an individual may appear at each court in separate years, or for a different principal
offence at different stages. As a result, this rate is not an accurate measure of
the proportion of prosecutions that result in a conviction.</p><p> </p><p>However,
the most accessible published data for conviction rates is in the quarterly data summaries
for the period 2019/20 onwards published by the CPS in the <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cps.gov.uk%2Fpublication%2Fcps-quarterly-data-summaries&data=05%7C02%7CBarbora.Vyklicka%40justice.gov.uk%7C2b58ae9c79f542df230f08dc650f1631%7Cc687472871e641fea9e12e8c36776ad8%7C0%7C0%7C638496362671314955%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=PSYBLdccc%2FHcQ0l8alRAllmvPTjQpHR%2FBF8DjQfcguU%3D&reserved=0"
target="_blank">CPS quarterly data summaries | The Crown Prosecution Service</a>.
Furthermore, convictions rates 2007/8 to 2013/14 are available in the <a href="https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/cps-violence-against-women-and-girls-crime-report-2013-2014"
target="_blank">CPS Violence against Women and Girls crime report 2013-2014</a>.</p>
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