Things are improving despite report on poor VAWG policing, says expert
The head of Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support says police are getting better at investigating cases, despite a report suggesting otherwise
It is "shocking, but not surprising" that the mental health of rape and sexual abuse survivors is being negatively impacted by police investigations.
That's what we are hearing from a West Country expert, after a study by the University of London found three in four survivors are having their mental health damaged by resultant police investigations.
The largest survey of its kind asked 2,000 victims of sexual offences in England and Wales between January and June 2023 for their views.
It formed part of a Home Office funded, National Police Chiefs’ Council-led research and change programme that aims to radically and sustainably improve procedural justice and outcome justice for rape and other sexual offences, known as Operation Soteria Bluestone.
Professor Hohl, lead academic of the survey and former joint strategic academic lead of Operation Soteria Bluestone said: “It is thanks to the bravery and generosity of the more than 2,000 survivors completing the survey that these findings are now here to be read and acted upon.
“The findings are sobering.
"They evidence the tremendous harm poor policing has caused to many rape and sexual assault survivors."
Quotes from survivors who completed the survey include "I am more afraid of the police than being raped again," and "it saddens me that someone else went through it because the police dismissed mine so quickly.”
However, work is being done to try and improve the situation, as Claire Bloor, chief executive of Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support (SARSAS) acknowledges.
The Operation Bluestone initiative first began in the Avon and Somerset force area before being expanded nationally.
We have covered the work Avon and Somerset Police are doing to improve things previously as part of our #ReportIt campaign and you can read more about it here.
Claire said: "We all are saying we can genuinely see a difference," she said.
"We're hearing it come through in the conversations that survivors are having with us, so it's not perfect but the great thing is if you do get an Operation Soteria police officer, you know you're going to get a really good level of support.
"That's not just the support the victims are getting, that's the fact that they're (the police) are really concentrating on the perpetrator behaviour, that there's a proper investigation into the perpetrator."
If you are a survivor of sexual assault or abuse, there is support available via this link.