News

June 2003

Reported rapes at a record high.

New figures released at the end of May * revealed the highest number of rapes and attempted rapes ever recorded in Scotland. A total of 913 rapes and attempted rapes were reported by women, a 21 per cent rise on the previous year. This comes at a time when less than 5% of recorded rapes result in a conviction.

Sandy Brindley, development worker with Rape Crisis Scotland, described the increase as alarming and warned that much more must be done to boost women’s confidence in the criminal justice system. “It is possible that some of the increase is because more women are reporting rape,” she said. “However, it is very worrying to think that this could also reflect real increases in sexual violence.

“This reinforces what we have been saying – that there is an urgent need to look at the criminal justice system as a whole. If more women are coming forward and putting their faith in the police and the courts, we must ensure that the system can respond. Clearly it is failing far too many women at the moment.”

She praised some of the Scottish Executive’s initiatives in recent years to combat domestic abuse and welcomed the fact that the domestic abuse strategy is to be broadened out to include sexual violence

* Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2002.
Available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00254-01.asp