News
Increase in rape convictions in Scotland
New figures released by the Scottish Government show a significant increase in the proportion of rape cases which reach court leading to a conviction.
Out of 92 rapes prosecuted in 2009-10, there were 41 convictions. This compares with 26 convictions out of 85 rape prosecutions the previous year.
The recorded crime figures for the same year show that there were 884 rapes reported to the police. The proportion of reported rapes leading to a conviction was 4.6%[1], compared to 3% in 2008-09. The majority of reported rapes did not reach court – only approximately 10% of rapes were prosecuted. However, of the rapes prosecuted the conviction rate was 44.6%.
2009-10
2008-09
Rapes recorded by the police
884
821
Number of rapes prosecuted
92
85
Number of convictions
41
26
Recent years have seen significant changes in the way rape is investigated and prosecuted in Scotland. This has included the establishment of a dedicated National Sexual Crimes Unit to oversee the prosecution of sexual offences in Scotland. Rape Crisis Scotland is encouraged to see a quite significant increase in the number of rapes which get to court resulting in a conviction.
It remains, however, a matter of concern that so few rapes ever reach court. Rape is a crime which can take a lot of courage to report to the police, and finding out your case is not going to court can be devastating.
It is clear that much remains to be done, not least in changing attitudes to rape to try to minimize the impact that women blaming attitudes may have on jury deliberations. We hope that these new figures are indicative that as a nation we are moving in the right direction in improving access to justice following rape.
[1] The figures relating to rapes recorded by the police and court proceedings statistics are not directly comparable due to the police recording by offence and the court figures recording by accused (an accused might be responsible for more than one incident). However, these are the only figures available to measure the proportion of recorded rapes leading to a conviction.
"Consent" screening and discussion event
Rape Crisis Scotland is holding a special screening of the film “Consent”, which was originally broadcast on Channel 4 in 2007.
Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 now in force
After several years in preparation, the most radical overhaul ever of the law on sexual offences in Scotland has now taken place. On 1st December 2010, the new Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act came into force, bringing with it a number of significant changes to the law on sexual offences in Scotland.
The definition of rape is now wider than was previously the case, reflecting a recognition within the law that men as well as women can be victims of rape. Consent is now defined in statute in Scotland for the very first time. Hopefully this will overcome problems caused by the subjective interpretations to which its previous location in common law inevitably left it open. Under the new law, consent is defined as “free agreement” and this is supported by a non-exhaustive list of circumstances which, if proved, will indicate that consent was not present. People with a limited or no capacity to consent (for example the very young, or those with a mental disorder) are also better protected within the terms of the new Act.
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