Sarah Feeney, Labour’s candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner in Warwickshire has promised that she will prioritise increasing the reporting levels of rape and sexual assault, by giving women more confidence to report offences.

Mrs Feeney says: “Warwickshire has an incredibly concerning low reporting and prosecution rate. One in four women will have experienced rape or sexual assault as adults and yet we think five out of six women do not report incidents.   2021 data showed that only 15 prosecutions were pursued in Warwickshire and only seven cases resulted in conviction.

Warwickshire Police officers have been in court already this year for sexual offences against women.

This follows on from Channel 4’s Dispatches revealing the scale of sexual misconduct by a serving police officer, some concerns reaching back 20 years.

Sarah Feeney said, “I was horrified to learn of two cases against police officers coming to court. We need women to feel confident in reporting these crimes and we need to ensure that we have police officers of the highest probity to investigate and support victims of these crimes, this will be achieved by working with survivors and representative groups to learn about their experience of the system.”

“My first priority needs to be women feeling safe to report sexual violence and domestic violence. The police must recognise what they are being told and then act on it. As Police and Crime Commissioner I will, if elected, act quickly and decisively to give victims their confidence back in the criminal justice system in Warwickshire.”

*ENDS*

• In the year to March 2021,figures showed the Warwickshire force had the lowest rape conviction rate in the country. Fewer than 2% of reported rapes ended with a charge, and just 1.3% led to a conviction, in the year to March 2021.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-65255301#:~:text=Warwickshire%20Police%20has%20joined%20a,the%20year%20to%20March%202021.

• Last year only 15 prosecutions were pursued in Warwickshire and only seven cases resulted in conviction

www.warwickshireworld.com/news/crime/warwickshire-has-the-lowest-rape-conviction-rate-in-england-and-wales-sparking-an-mps-call-for-an-inquiry-3358223

• A police officer has denied raping underage girls more than a decade ago.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv2ydkvxm31o#:~:text=Paul%20Hanson%2C%2032%2C%20from%20Nuneaton,of%20sexually%20assaulting%20a%20woman.

• A serving Warwickshire Police officer is set to appear in court to face a charge of sexual assault.

https://www.warwickshire.police.uk/news/warwickshire/news/2024/january/warwickshire-police-officer-to-face-sexual-assault-charge/

• Five in six people do not report rape – the source is here https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/statistics-sexual-violence/