Rape tsar QUITS Britain slamming ‘lack of will’ to change in the police and civil service – as she returns to the US ‘because she does not feel safe in the UK’
The Government’s rape tsar has sensationally quit the role claiming there is a ‘lack of will’ in the police and civil service to change how they approach the crime and returned to the US as she ‘does not feel safe in Britain.’
Emily Hunt, the Ministry of Justice’s independent adviser to its Rape Review, said myths about rape are perpetuated at high levels of the civil service and police.
According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, a total of 193,566 sexual offences were recorded by the police in England and Wales in the year ending March 2022, which is the highest level recorded.
According to RAINN, America’s Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, one out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.
Ms Hunt, herself an abuse survivor, said she is returning to the US because she does not feel safe in Britain and has said there was no ‘purpose’ to her staying, adding there is a ‘lack of will’ for change.
Emily Hunt said there was no purpose to her staying, adding there is a `lack of will´ for change
In an interview with Channel 4 News, the campaigner said: ‘It’s going to sound silly but fundamentally we need to remember that the Government and all of the operational partners from the police to the prosecutors to the judges, they’re all just people.
READ MORE: Police forces in England and Wales record the highest ever number of rapes and sexual offences in 2022
‘People innately believe in rape myth. So, you have people going through their day-to-day lives who believe that: ‘Oh, well, maybe her skirt was too short. Maybe she was drinking.’
‘I have more come across it more within the professional and civil service side. I’d say that ministers are more careful around me.’
Ms Hunt said it is ‘scary’ to live in a country where there is ‘no criminal justice system to keep me safe’.
She added: ‘I got to the point where I realised I don’t think I could ever report a crime to the police in this country again, at least not right now.
‘And that made me feel really, really unsafe, because I do still have somebody out there who was harassing and stalking me.
‘And it is very scary to feel unsafe and unprotected and to feel like if anything happened, I don’t have a criminal justice system to keep me safe and that it’s part of why I’m leaving.’
A recruitment campaign to find a new adviser is due to launch later this year
In 2022, this was an increase of 30,322 sexual offences compared with the year ending March 2020 and an increase of 45,731 from the previous year.
The ONS urged ‘caution’ when interpreting the data on sexual offences, which could be affected by a ‘number of factors’.
READ MORE: ‘The rape detection rate is so low you may as well say it’s legal in London’: Review exposes how victims were made to feel like an ‘inconvenience’ by overworked and inexperienced Met Police officers
Ms Hunt’s decision to quit her role comes months after a damning report into the Met Police’s approach to sexual offences cases which found that rape and domestic violence victims were made to feel like an ‘inconvenience’ and ‘gaslighted’ by overworked and inexperienced officers.
Rape victims described being told they ‘should and could have done more’ to protect themselves by sarcastic, rude and dismissive investigators.
One officer said: ‘If you look at our performance around rape, serious sexual offences, the detection rate is so low you may as well say it’s legal in London.
‘It’s kind of reflective of how we treat and view our female colleagues. You get victim-blaming, looking at a situation and not believing them.’
Many officers are desperate to close cases with NFA – ‘no further action’. One admitted: ‘The incentive is get it NFA’d because we have to do so much work to get it up and then the Crown Prosecution Service will NFA anyway.’
A community officer added: ‘The best outcome is closing a report to reduce your workload.’
The scandal was worsened by the fact that one of the Met’s own officers – David Carrick- was one of the UK’s worst sex offenders while working for the force.
An evil Metropolitan Police rapist David Carrick has been accused of fresh sex attacks against more women with at least ten people coming forward with fresh information
He joined the Met in 2001 before becoming an armed officer with the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command in 2009
Carrick, 48, admitted to 85 rapes and serious sexual assaults before sentencing in February, is currently serving life with a minimum of 30 years after his offences against 12 different women.
He joined the Met in 2001 before becoming an armed officer with the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command in 2009.
The court heard he repeatedly and brutally raped his victims and engaged in violence and coercive control, including locking one women in a tiny cupboard as a punishment, strangulation, threatening victims with a gun, urinating on one victim and using women as ‘sex slaves’.
Since his trial ‘more than ten’ people have contacted police with further information or fresh allegations against the former police officer, the Guardian reports.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘We thank Emily Hunt for her valuable work over the last two years, supporting the Government in exceeding all three ambitions of our Rape Review ahead of schedule.
‘We remain determined to stamp out these appalling crimes, making sure the criminal justice system supports victims and holds perpetrators to account.’
A recruitment campaign to find a new adviser is due to launch later this year.
MailOnline have contacted The Ministry of Justice for more information.
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