Breaking Point
Yesterday (27 March 2023) Rape Crisis published a new report on the re-traumatisation of rape and sexual abuse survivors in the Crown Court’s backlog of cases. Entitled “Breaking Point”, the report demonstrates how the victims and survivors of some of the worst crimes imaginable are being made to wait years for their cases to reach court, having court dates postponed – often multiple times – and being kept in the dark about important updates.
The context
In an internal Rape Crisis England & Wales survey in 2022, the top two concerns of Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs) supporting survivors through the criminal justice system were general timeliness and the impact of the Crown Court backlog on victims and survivors – and for good reason. At the end of September 2022, there were 62,766 cases languishing in this backlog.
Currently, rape and sexual offence cases in the backlog are at a record high: in the last quarter of available data, outstanding sexual offence cases in the Crown Court stood at 7,859 cases, an astonishing increase on the last quarter alone by around 800 cases.
The adult rape backlog increased by 200 cases. These cases – some of the most traumatic and serious of any that the Crown Court will see – wait the longest in the backlog; once a case has been reported, it is now taking an average 839 days for it to reach completion in court. Child sexual abuse offences wait nearly two years to go to trial.
These unacceptably long time-scales have catastrophic impacts on confidence in the system, leading to some victims and survivors ultimately withdrawing from the criminal justice process.
The number of all rearranged rape trials more than doubled between 2019/20 and 2021/22. The number of trials that were postponed at least once increased by a staggering 133%. The number of rape trials with three or more previous trial dates had almost doubled. There were five times as many trials that had been rescheduled six or more times.
The impact on victims and survivors
The report documents the impact and consequences of the issues outlined in the first section through the lens of victims and survivors. We consistently see that the treatment of victims and survivors leads to re-traumatisation.
Rebecca (all names have been changed) shared her deeply held anxieties of going to court and how they repeat for her:
“I will be on the stand, I think I am on trial. I am on trial. They want me to stand up there and retraumatise myself and speak about the most shaming and disgusting things. I am worried this is going to be the most traumatic, shaming, and humiliating thing in my life.”
The report charts how the protracted wait leads to deteriorating mental wellbeing, with several of the survivors having shared that they tried to end their own lives – sometimes multiple times – because they felt that the waiting would never end and they could simply no longer cope.
It also records how dangerous perpetrators have been granted bail after multiple postponements rendered it impossible to detain them any longer. There is also a pattern of poor communication and an overall lack of consideration for victims and survivors, as well as their families. In two of the cases in this study, they had the distressing experience of coming face-to-face with the perpetrator and his family.
Survivors shared how they felt powerless and de-prioritised while stuck in limbo. Charlotte detailed her feelings, which were common to several of the other survivor case studies:
“[T]he court date finally come; I thought, ‘This is it. Finally, I get to get it over with and then I can try [to] heal from the trauma’. Thinking that I can finally heal properly instead of dragging it all back up, time and time again. I spent weeks having panic attacks and not sleeping; I wasn’t eating; my whole life was falling apart again. I had no control; I was a mess. [But I was] prepared to tell my side to the court so I could finally be heard. Then it got postponed again – I was told I had to wait a year…
It’s so painful to feel so stuck somewhere yet hopeless; as hopeless as when these crimes took place and no one listened or helped me then. No power or control over the choices that had been made for me. I was going to quit, withdraw my statement; I was at breaking point.
The severity of my mental health was deteriorating. My relationship with my children and partner was low as all I would do is sob. How can they let me down again, fail me? Was I not important? Was what I was saying not important? Did I matter? Did my case matter? Who would care if I dropped out anyway?”
Recommendations
Rape Crisis makes a number of recommendations including:
- Priority listing and guaranteed fixtures for all rape and sexual offence cases, to ensure that the most traumatic crimes currently waiting the longest to go to trial are heard with timeliness.
- Rape and sexual offence trials must never be listed as floater trials.
- Clear and coordinated communication with victims and survivors so that they are updated promptly when trials are delayed and re-listed.
3 responses
I have just had my case postponed for the third time. My step father sexually abused me and 4 of my siblings over a period 10 years. It was only when my mother passed away 2 years ago that I had the strength to go to the police and report it. All the fear, trauma, sadness and anger came flooding back. I am now living with it every second of my life. It consumes my every thought. The thought of standing in court and telling people what that monster did to me is frightening and at the same time relieving. Each time it gets delayed I despair, not only for me but sisters as well. I can’t help thinking that the judiciary just don’t care.
My trial was postponed for the 5th time in Sept last year. I cannot put into words the hopelessness I feel now. Its due for trial again this months and I’m a nervous wreak that it’ll be postponed again. I can’t eat, I’m agoraphobic, having nightmare… that’s when I can fall asleep. Panic attacks, migraines. Its destroying my life. I’m exhausted. The justice system does not care about or even factor in the complainant in sexual offences cases. Its a form of torture experiencing it first hand.
Very sorry to hear this, hope you are getting support from somewhere and the trial finally goes ahead this month so that you can start putting the whole nightmare behind you.
Best wishes
Russell