Female Rape victim/survivor withdrawal from engagement with the Criminal Justice System after reporting to Police: exploring the professionals' perspective

There has always been a focus on our Criminal Justice System (CJS) in its efforts to secure convictions in cases of rape. Despite a litany of reports, numerous reviews, and a carousel of recommendations the failure remains. The literature review first focuses on the scale of the issue of rape attrition and commonly cited statistics to establish the scale of the problem before an overview of where attrition can and is most likely to occur. Outlining the key decision-making stages is critical in finding the points during an investigation at which a victim may choose to withdraw from the case. Great strides have been made in supporting victim-survivors of rape, bringing victim-survivors out of the shadows, and pushing them towards the heart of the process. Further improvements have been seen with regard to increased reporting however, ensuring victim-survivors remain within the CJS and assist an investigation remains difficult. As will be discussed below withdrawal rates are higher than ever and are one of the primary reasons for attrition. From analysing the available literature three research questions were identified (1) What do professionals that deal with victim-survivors believe to be the main reason they withdraw? (2) What other contributing factors do professionals think also affect the likelihood of a withdrawal? (3) What do professionals believe can be done to mitigate the likelihood of a victim-survivor choosing to withdraw? The study utilised phenomenological analysis to break down rich qualitative data produced from interviews. 12 professionals from 4 different organisations were interviewed to give a broad view of the professional perspective from various angles and stages of the CJS. The four groups of professionals were Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVA), Counsellors, Intermediaries and Sexual Offence Investigative Trained (SOIT) officers. The interviews were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) which is a method of analysis used to understand lived experiences, this will be analysed in more depth in the methodology section. The findings deduced from the views expressed by the professionals interviewed show a picture of improvement in the way victim-survivors are treated. However, all professionals agreed there was much left to do in improving the way victim-survivors are dealt with. The most common theme found behind the reason for withdrawal was an apprehension of something yet to happen as opposed to an unsatisfactory experience of something that had already happened.
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