The Stern Review

1 THE Stern REVIEWA REPORT BY BARONESS VIVIEN Stern CBE OF AN INDEPENDENT Review INTO HOW RAPE COMPLAINTS ARE HANDLED BY PUBLIC AUTHORITIES IN ENGLAND AND WALES THE Stern Review Contents Foreword 3 Terms of Reference 6 Executive Summary 7 Introduction 23 Chapter One 28 Rape misunderstandings, myths and reality Chapter Two 56 The role of the police Taking the case to court Beyond criminal justice wider policy challenges Conclusions and recommendations Advice for the Stern Review Evidence gathered Bibliography Chapter Three 79 Chapter Four 96 Chapter Five 115 Annex A 125 Annex B 137 Endnotes 151 1 Contents FOREWORD BY BARONESS Stern I was privileged to be invited by the Government Equalities Office and the Home Office to carry out this independent Review into the treatment of rape complaints by public authorities.

2 For over forty years I have been involved in work to improve the way society responds to crime and criminals. During that time I have often voiced concern that we have failed to understand what a caring society should be doing to respond to those who have been harmed by crime. This Review has allowed me to study at first hand how one particular group of victims, the victims of rape, are treated, and to recommend how we can do better. It has been an extraordinary experience. In the course of collecting evidence I have met many people with an important story to tell. Sadly I have met some whose treatment by the authorities was appalling. Examples of such shockingly poor treatment are described in this report. John Worboys and Kirk Reid were men who managed to rape and assault many women before they were stopped, because the police in London did not take the victims seriously enough when they came to report what had happened to them and rape was not a sufficiently high priority for some of the police at the time.

3 These cases must have done great damage to the confidence of victims in reporting what has happened to them and many lessons needed to be learnt. But I have also come across a wide range of deeply dedicated men and women whose work has helped to bring a traumatised person through a most terrible experience. Across England and Wales there are examples to be found of the very best practice that can be envisaged in dealing with rape victims. Many in the police and the prosecution service are working hard to change the way they deal with this most difficult of crimes, and I have been impressed by their commitment and the quality of what many of them are doing. I am grateful to the Victims Champion Sara Payne for the discussions we had and the valuable insights to be found in her two reports, Redefining Justice and Rape: the victim experience Review .

4 She has given us a very sound basis for the work we have done. I am also grateful to Sir George Alberti for our discussions about the crucial role of the NHS in caring for rape victims. I welcome the recommendations he makes in the report of The Health Aspects of Violence Against 3 Foreword Women and Children Taskforce. Rape is not just a matter for the criminal justice system. Far from it. The health implications are substantial and the role of the NHS needs to be developed along the lines suggested in Sir George s report. The way rape is understood and dealt with has changed considerably in recent years. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 brought in a new definition of rape. In all of the 43 police forces in England and Wales there are specially trained officers to deal with rape complaints. About a third of forces have special rape units.

5 The Crown Prosecution Service has appointed specialist rape prosecutors. Only judges trained in sexual offences can hear rape cases. A new and very successful post of victims advisor has been created to offer support in some places to those who report rape. My report looks broadly at these changes and assesses how far, when they are implemented everywhere, they will lead to a better response by society to rape victims. I hope my report will encourage those who have embarked on the path of change to do more, and convince others that this is an important priority. This report should make clear what anyone who has decided to report a rape, whether a man or a woman, can expect from a public authority. I know that many of those who suffer rape do not report it to the authorities. I hope my Review will encourage more victims to report to the police what has happened to them and to stay with the process, even though it may seem at the time to be long and painful.

6 I also hope it will empower those responding to victims to give a better service and to be more effective in what they do. And I hope too that politicians will agree that ensuring the money is there for such a service is an important priority, even in a time of severe financial restraints. Rape takes place within a wider social context. Many of its victims are very vulnerable. My Review will have taken us forward if it prompts a little more thinking about the messages society is sending out to young people: messages about sexual relationships and about our responsibility to protect others from sexual exploitation. The remit of the Review was to look at the response of public authorities to those making complaints of rape. We have not therefore looked at any possible changes in the law in any detail. Nor have we considered the issue of child sexual abuse.

7 This is a topic in its own right. We have done what we could in the time available to show what needs to be done. Our recommendations are not numerous, although the 4 The Stern Review ones we make are important. Rather than prescribe in detail, we have been more concerned to suggest what is the right approach for public authorities to take, individually and also as part of a wider response of the community to this particularly invasive and traumatic crime. There are many people to thank: those who met me, wrote to me or submitted evidence over three hundred altogether and those who gave me very personal and extremely distressing accounts of what had happened to them and have somehow dealt with the damage inflicted on them to tell their story with a view to helping others. I hope the short time we have had for this Review has enabled us to do some justice to the views we have received.

8 In particular I must thank the staff seconded to the Review from the Government Equalities Office, namely Kuljit Dhillon, Head of the Secretariat, Daisy Sands and Francesca Broadbent, without whose dedication and hard work this report could not have been written. They are not responsible for the views I express or for what is omitted from this report. I would also like to thank my assistant, Helen Fair, for her considerable and unfailing support. Baroness Vivien Stern , CBE 5 Foreword TERms OF REFEREncE The Stern Review terms of reference are: to examine the response of the public authorities to rape complaints and examine how more victims can be encouraged to report; to explore ways in which the attrition rate in criminal cases can be reduced, and how to fairly increase the conviction rate; to identify how to increase victim and witness satisfaction, and confidence in the criminal justice system in addressing rape; to explore public and professional attitudes to rape and how they impact on outcomes.

9 To utilise findings and information available from other relevant work, particularly the work on victims experience being led by Sara Payne and the Department of Health Taskforce led by Professor Sir George Alberti, avoiding unnecessary duplication; and to make recommendations, with particular reference to improving the implementation of current policies and procedures. Throughout this Review references to footnotes are numbered in black and references to endnotes are numbered in orange. 6 The Stern Review EXEcUTIVE sUmmARY Rape is a serious and deeply damaging crime. It is unique in the way it strikes at the bodily integrity and self-respect of the victim, in the demands it makes on those public authorities required to respond to it and in the controversy it generates. We were told by a lawyer, Rape is unique as it is an inherently lawful activity made illegal because of lack of consent.

10 Women, men, children, and people of all ages and all social groups can become rape victims. Our terms of reference required us to look at the response of public authorities to rape complaints. We were asked to consider how the response could be improved so that more victims might report what had happened to them; more cases would end with prosecution and conviction; and victims would receive better treatment. We were not looking at child sexual abuse, which is a topic in its own right. Nor were we looking at possible changes in the law. In the five months available to us to prepare our report we met over 200 individuals personally, including victims, representatives from victims organisations, judges, police officers, prosecutors, doctors and others. Many other people also wrote to us or responded to our survey.