“The system simply isn’t working”: Only 5% of rape and sexual offence reports to Bedfordshire Police led to charges in past year

And while the detective chief inspector recognises more still needs to be done, she says officers in a dedicated team are working with victims from the initial report right through to any court proceedings.

In the UK, there was an 11% increase in police recorded sexual offences in the past year compared to the previous year, largely due to improvements in police recording practices.

Yet, according reports in the national press, the number of rape victims pulling out of prosecutions has reached an all-time high.

Lucy Duckworth, policy advisor at The Survivors Trust, said: “I think that some victims do not want to report offences or be involved in prosecutions because they are seeing the trauma of reporting.

“Of the 15% of offences that are reported, only 1.6% will result in a prosecution. This isn’t a system that needs reforming, but rather one that simply isn’t working and isn’t delivering for victims.”

In 2022/23, 1,721 rape and sexual offences were reported to Bedfordshire Police, before this number rose to 1,727 a year later.

And over the past year, there’s been an increase in reported offences, with the total standing at 2,178.

Between January and March this year, a total of 98 rape prosecutions were abandoned across the country, with the Crown Prosecution Service being accused of betraying victims due to a lack of support and long waits for cases to come to court.

Official CPS figures have shown the number of rape prosecutions being ditched rose from 160 in 2020/21 to 608 in 2024/25.

A new inspection into the CPS concluded too much focus was being put on ‘victim credibility’ instead of on the suspect.

Coinciding with the increased number of recorded offences, Bedfordshire Police has seen a worrying year-on-year drop in the number of offenders charged, from 161 charges two years ago to 123 in the past year.

Sexual Abuse Compensation Advice also gathered figures from the force on where the most sexual offences took place within their area of remit over the past three years.

The highest number of offences occurred in Luton with 1,897, followed by Bedford, where 988 offences were reported.

Lucy Duckworth said: “I think we need a huge cultural and societal shift, such as making it mandatory for all police and frontline staff to have training in working with survivors of sexual violence, because we are now looking at around 14 million adult survivors in this country.

“A lot of this comes down to the ‘victim-blaming’ culture that exists within our society, which, of course, puts people off.

“One of the main problems is that we intervene once the offence has already happened, we have got to stop trying to address the symptoms of abuse rather than the actual abuse itself.”

Detective Chief Inspector Michelle Lack, who leads Bedfordshire Police’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) investigation team, said: “Levels of recorded rape and serious sexual offences are increasing in Bedfordshire, partly due to improvement in recording practices but also could reflect an increased confidence in victims coming forward to report.

“Both nationally and locally, it is recognised that more still needs to be done when it comes to these offences, and as a force we are committed to making improvements and ensuring victims receive the strongest possible investigative response and support.

“We continue to work hard in driving forward the implementation of Op Soteria – the National Rape Transformation Plan. Part of this work includes looking internally to better equip officers with the tools and training needed to secure the best possible outcomes for victims.

“We understand that reporting sexual violence can be incredibly difficult and many people may not feel ready to report. We want to reassure victims that we take all reports seriously and deal with rape and serious sexual offences as priority crimes.

“Our RASSO team includes our own dedicated Victim Engagement Officers, who work with victims from the initial report right through to any court proceedings, providing any support and guidance they may need during this traumatic time.

“The team also works closely with partner agencies including Bedfordshire Victim Care Services, which provides support whether it has been reported to the police or not, independent sexual violence advisors (ISVAs), who are specially trained staff independent of the police, and the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC).”