The intense scrutiny now focused on Saturday night has tragically taken away from what we should be urgently debating: “how safe do women feel on London’s streets?”
Statistics show that sexual offences in the capital, including rape, have been marginally falling in 2019/2020. Yet the figures remain intensely shocking.
Almost 19,000 allegations of rape and sexual assault are being reported in London each year, and nearly nine out of 10 victims were women. The figures almost certainly represent an underestimate, given that, according to the Mayor’s own statistics, in 2018/19, five out of every six victims of sexual assault did not report it to the police.
Firstly, in London the focus must fall on Sadiq Khan, who has made tackling violence against women one of his key priorities in recent years in his Police and Crime Plan and whether the swathe of projects and programmes they funded or launched are having an effect. And what further funding is needed.
Secondly, what are the conviction rates? CPS figures published last July show the number of completed rape prosecutions in England and Wales reached a record low in 2019/20 with 2,102 prosecutions, a fall of 31 per cent compared with 2018/19. This is a national scandal.
Saturday night was a failure of policing, but the focus must remain on keeping our streets safe, taking forward legislation and on-the-ground initiatives to ensure we push crime numbers down and bring perpetrators swiftly to justice to send out the right message — women have the legal right to feel safe in the streets and in their homes.
