Abusers are getting away with rape – and the Crown Prosecution Service is helping them do it
The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. A judicial review, mounted against the Crown Prosecution Service by the Centre for Women’s Justice and the End Violence Against Women coalition, heard that a change in the CPS’ approach to rape has resulted in far fewer prosecutions. As someone who has survived multiple experiences of sexual violence, beginning when I was a teenager, the alleged covert policy change by the CPS is nothing short of terrifying. In England and Wales alone, around 85,000 women and 12,000 men aged 16-59 experience rape or attempted rape every year. Whatever the outcome of the judicial review, it’s clear that there is something very wrong with a criminal justice system that allows so many of those accused of serious sexual offences to walk free.
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