Women are being left "feeling violated again and again" -while rapists are getting away with it
| Published date | 18 October 2021 |
| Publication title | Manchester Evening News: Web Edition Articles (England) |
"It felt like it had happened to me five times, not once.
"It was almost as much trauma as what happened."
She is talking about the stress of attempting to navigate through the criminal justice system during the COVID pandemic.
After two collapsed trials, and over 18 months on from the attack, the woman can now finally start to move on.
But the route to justice very nearly broke her.
The victim, whose identity is concealed for legal reasons, had been visiting a friend at an asylum seeker refuge in Rochdale when Ali Yahya Horoun tried to rape her.
After falling asleep on the sofa, Horoun, 28, a man she had never met, climbed on top of her and pulled down the bottom half of her clothing. He only stopped when the woman's friend woke to find what was about to happen.
Horoun was initially due to go on trial in September 2020, but the hearing was cancelled because of coronavirus restrictions -meaning the woman was left in complete limbo.
By January 2021, her mental health was drastically deteriorating, as she battled with the prospect of another trial.
The second time around, she went through the pain of reliving the events of that night to a jury of twelve strangers, finally believing her horrendous journey was over.
But yet another delay was to come.
Following a coronavirus outbreak at Minshull Street Crown Court, the trial had to be adjourned for a second time, leaving the victim in turmoil once again.
In May this year, Horoun was eventually jailed for six years and nine months, after being convicted of attempted rape.
The victim was relieved to finally see justice, but told the court of a life sentence of pain she had been left with following her ordeal.
Visibly moved by her testimony, Minshull Street Judge, Andrea Neild, acknowledged the devastating impact court delays have on victims of rape or sexual assault offences RASSO.
"The courts do their best with these very difficult cases such as yours of which there are far too many," she said, addressing the victim.
"We can't possibly understand how brutally victims are impacted by these delays."
Sadly, this woman's story is not uncommon.
Women who have reported being the victim of rape or sexual assault currently face an agonising wait for justice -prolonging their trauma and preventing them from moving on.
And for most victims, their day in court never even comes.
Staggering statistics published by the Government's long-anticipated End-to-End Rape Review this year, revealed that just 1.6 per cent of rape cases reported to the police result in someone being charged.
This means that fewer than one in every 100 rape complaints actually leads to justice for its victim.
"These statistics demonstrate that the criminal justice system is failing victims of rape and sexual assault," the review, which was commissioned by Minister for Crime and Policing, Kit Malthouse, concluded.
"If they are not recording it, how can we possibly know what is going on"
In Greater Manchester a unique problem exists.
Figures for the whole of England and Wales -excluding our region -show that 42 per cent of rape investigations closed in the year to September 2020 were abandoned after those who reported attacks withdrew their support.
The length of the criminal justice process was said to be directly causing victim attrition -as it prevents some victims from being able to move forward with their lives.
A review into the Criminal Justice System's response to adult rape and serious sexual offences was published in June this year, but Greater Manchester Police were unable to take part.
" Data for 2019-20 excludes Greater Manchester Police which was not available following the implementation of a new IT system in July 2019," the review said.
Concerningly, this means the force was unable to provide any public information about the outcomes of rape and sexual assault offences for a whole year.
A spokesperson for the force said that they "fully acknowledge" that it is "unacceptable" that they were unable to supply data to the Home Office for this review.
GMP has been plagued by problems since it introduced its £27m Capita-built, Integrated Operational Policing System iOPS.
In December 2020, the police watchdog published a highly critical report into GMP after an inspection revealed the force failed to record an estimated 80,000 crime reports in twelve months.
It also emerged earlier last month that the force had found 5,000 pieces of intelligence -including tip-offs -hiding in iOPS which had been logged but never reviewed or acted upon.
Former GMP Detective turned whistle-blower, Maggie Oliver, slammed the force's inability to take part in the response to adult rape and serious sexual offences review as "not good enough."
After leaving the force in 2012, she launched the Maggie Oliver Foundation, to help victims of child exploitation, sexual assault, and rape, who felt they had been failed by police.
"I think it's really a really convenient excuse but it isn't good enough," she told the Manchester Evening News , as she questioned the lack of data for rape and sexual assault cases being blamed on iOPS.
"They GMP are a public service and their job is to record and investigate crime.
"If they are not recording it, how can we possibly know what is going on"
For the small number of victims whose cases actually make it to court, the process can be extremely traumatic and painful for them.
Many survivors...
To continue reading
Request your trial