Open Your Eyes

In light of Russell Brand's conviction, we need to ask an uncomfortable question: Why do so few women report rape? • 80,829 criminal cases stuck in the Crown Court backlog. • 16,089 outstanding sexual offence cases. • 26% increase in outstanding rape cases in just one year. • 438 days — median police investigation time for rape cases resulting in a charge. • 365 days — median time from charge to completion for adult rape cases. • 499 days — average wait for an adult rape trial where the defendant isn't remanded in custody. • 1 in 3 rape trials postponed at least once in 2024, compared with around 1 in 10 in 2015. And what happens to the victims? • 85.3% of victims of rape or assault by penetration did NOT report the most recent incident to police. • 38.5% of non-reporting victims who told someone believed the police couldn't help. • 35.3% cited embarrassment. • 30.5% expected humiliation. • 24.4% feared police wouldn't believe them. • Around 55% of victims in the ONS reporting analysis were assaulted by a partner or former partner. And what happens when they do report? • Only around 8% of adult rape investigations result in a charge. • 69% of adult rape complainants in a London study withdrew before a charging decision. • 71,540 rapes recorded by police in 2024/25. • Just 2,623 rape convictions recorded that year (not necessarily relating to the same offences). And how did we get here? • Courts and tribunals spending cut 23.3% in real terms between 2010/11 and 2017/18. • 31% fewer criminal legal aid solicitors between 2014/15 and 2023/24. • Crown Court backlog more than doubled, from 38,341 cases in December 2019 to 80,829 in June 2026. Successive Conservative-led governments cut funding and capacity from the justice system. Labour inherited the consequences, but now has responsibility for fixing them. And behind every statistic is a human being. Someone who may have spent years trying to find the courage to speak up, only to face an investigation lasting months, a trial years away, the prospect of being cross-examined, and the possibility of having to relive everything again if that trial is postponed. Not reporting rape doesn't mean it didn't happen. Withdrawing a complaint doesn't mean an allegation was false. We keep asking why so few women come forward. Perhaps we should be asking why we've created a system in which coming forward can mean years of uncertainty, humiliation and trauma, with so little prospect of justice. And how many perpetrators have been able to continue abusing others because victims had every reason to believe the system would fail them? Sources: ONS, Ministry of Justice, Home Office, Rape Crisis England & Wales, Institute for Government and London's Victims' Commissioner. Statistics cover different populations and reporting periods.