Gwent Police today welcomed the findings of the Stern Review in which Baroness Vivien Stern CBE reviewed how rape complaints are handled in England and Wales.
The review urged greater focus on:
• victim care – with all victims being given access to an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor if they want it
• intelligence-led policing to avoid failures like Worboys and Reid
• ending the widespread use of misleading rape conviction data – in particular the ‘six per cent conviction rate’ figure
In the report Baroness Stern identifies several areas where the service and support to victims can be improved, but she also highlights examples of best practice from around England and Wales including the work of the Gwent Police Onyx Unit (the Serious Sexual offences team in Gwent)
Gwent Police Assistant Chief Constable Jeff Farrar commented:
“Baroness Stern highlights the “extremely impressive” work of the specialist Onyx unit and mentions that officers working for specialist teams were dedicated to this type of work and highly enthusiastic about what they were achieving.
“She highlighted the fact that more victims had the confidence in the system to report cases of rape, and victims are getting a more professional and quicker response. She also noted that information about rapes in the area is being collated and analysed so that a strategic approach can be implemented based on risk.”
“The report also notes that teams such as the Onyx unit enable rape and other sexual offences to be seen strategically, with investigation and prosecution part of a larger approach that sees the police working closely with other local agencies to ensure there is prevention of sexual violence and protection (particularly of those who are especially vulnerable) in the local area.
Mr Farrar concluded:
“Baroness Stern says that there was much to commend, and whilst comments and findings such as these are welcome and indicate that the force is moving in the right direction the public can be assured that Gwent Police constantly looks for ways of improving the service and ongoing support to victims of this most heinous of crimes.”
