THE NORTH’S minister for justice David Ford has pledged to assist victims of sexual violence after a report found that in Northern Ireland just one in 14 alleged reported rapes results in a court conviction.
The Criminal Justice Inspection report published yesterday found that just 7 per cent of rapes reported to the police result in convictions and that overall, only a “relatively small proportion” of sexual violence crimes are reported to the PSNI.
Mr Ford said he would be introducing in the autumn a range of proposals for tackling issues raised in the report.
It said that research estimated that between 5 per cent and 25 per cent of rapes were reported to the police, and of those, a large number fall as they progress through the justice system.
Last year, 1,943 sexual offences were reported to the PSNI, of which 381 were alleged rapes.
The report called for the North’s Public Prosecution Service to “investigate the reasons why the majority of rape cases are directed for no prosecution and, if issues are identified, take action to address these, where appropriate in conjunction with the PSNI”.
Dr Michael Maguire, head of Criminal Justice Inspection in the North, said: “The conviction rate for crimes of sexual violence relative to the number that are reported is, however, very low; in relation to rape in Northern Ireland, for example, around 7 per cent.”
Dr Maguire said the justice system must take all “lawful steps” to ensure victims of sexual violence and abuse get the best service.
“The speed with which cases are progressed needs to be accelerated so that the trauma and anxiety – for both victims and accused – is not unduly exacerbated,” he said.
“Finally, there is a need for justice organisations to continually review the reasons why cases do not progress through the justice system,” Dr Maguire added.
