Rape: A timeline of reform

The recent report by Dame Elish Angiolini report (2/6/15) into rape investigation in The Metropolitan Police highlights the issues in modern day rape investigation and makes a list of recommendations(See Table 1) .The report states that ”Rape is one of the most serious but misunderstood crimes and presents investigators and prosecutors with unique challenges. In its variety and complexity rape often presents difficulties far in excess of those encountered in investigating other crimes, including homicide”. This reflects the authors experience as a detective managing detective units and investigating rape in London. The Home Office Research Study in 2005 saw rape as, ‘a unique crime, representing both a physical and psychological violation’. In 2010 Baroness Stern went further, observing, ‘It is unique in the way it strikes at the bodily integrity and self-respect of the complainant, in the demands it makes on those public authorities required to respond to it and in the controversy it generates’. This article will look at these recommendations and place them in the context of 40 years of changing policy towards rape investigation, legal changes and the change in the social milieu.