By Sarah Learmonth

Why is it vital that survivors of sexual offences, domestic abuse and stalking respond to the government’s pre-charge bail consultation?

Victims-survivors of any offence have never been asked for their opinion before – please take this opportunity to make bail legislation more effective at protecting women and girls.

It is essential that victims-survivors of serious sexual offences, domestic abuse and stalking are protected by the police from the point they report. However, the everyday reality is somewhat different; survivors are being made to wait longer than ever for a court date with little or no protection from reprisals due to a catastrophic change to pre-charge or ‘police’ bail legislation in 2017.

So stark is the police’s neglect of the safety of victim-survivors they have recently been subject to a super-complaint by the Centre for Women’s Justice based on their ‘failure to use protective measures in cases involving violence against women and girls’. 

If you are a victim or survivor or an organisation that works with them, it is critical that you have your say in the reform debate and respond to the Government consultation on pre-charge bail, finishing on April 29th. 

How was pre-charge or ‘police bail’ reformed in 2017?

Provisions in the Policing and Crime Act 2017 overhauled pre-charge bail by reducing when and for how long it can be used for all offences, including serious sexual offences, domestic abuse and stalking. 

The method of managing most suspects who the police are investigating is released ‘under investigation’ or RUI. The police have no powers to require RUI suspects to report to them, no powers to place conditions on them and no time limits within which to complete their investigation against them.

Before 2017, if police wanted to continue an investigation against a suspect without charge, they had to release them on bail with the option of applying conditions. The 2017 reforms introduced a presumption against the use of pre-charge bail and police guidance recommended where further time is needed to investigate a suspect the police should now release them without bail “in almost all cases.” 

Pre-charge bail can now only be justified if a Police Inspector deems it “necessary and proportionate” however the 2017 Act failed to define what “necessary and proportionate” means but police guidance suggests protecting “national security” or the “economic well-being of the UK” as possible reasons bail might be used.  Given that no victims of any kind were consulted as part of the reform, it is perhaps not surprising that official guidance neglects to suggest the protection of women from abusive men as a possible “necessary” reason to apply bail.

The 2017 reforms limited the use of pre-charge bail to an initial 28 days with extensions up to three months requiring authorisation from a senior officer. Any extension beyond three months now needs permission from a magistrate’s court.  

What are the consequences for women and girls?

The 2017 changes have had entirely predictable consequences. With the majority of suspects of violent and sexual offences released with no constraints on them at all, women who report these crimes are left unprotected and the numbers withdrawing their support for police investigations has nearly trebled. Figures presented to the Cabinet Office confirm almost half of rape victims are taking the calculated decision not to support an investigation. Women’s Aid have informed HMICFRS inspectors that survivors of domestic abuse are being forced into precarious housing because conditional pre-charge bail is not being used to prevent the alleged abuser from returning to their home and at least one woman has lost her life as a result. 

The impact of the 2017 reform was based on consultation with the police, CPS and alleged suspects of sexual offences only – victims and survivors’ experiences were not thought to be of any relevance to the decision-making. Police forces have never been required to report data on when and why they used pre-charge bail. Now we are in a situation where the Home Office simply do not know how many suspects have been released under investigation, what they were arrested for, whether they have interfered with witnesses or victims-survivors and how long they have remained under investigation.

Have Your Say on the Pre-Charge Bail Consultation

Sarah Learmonth is an academic whose study completed as part of a Masters in Woman and Child Abuse Studies at London Metropolitan University exploring the impact on survivors of granting pre-charge bail in rape cases is the first of its kind. The study was been used by the Centre for Women’s Justice as part of their super-complaint, ‘Police failure to use protective measures in cases involving violence against women and girls.’

We at FiLiA urge you to read Sarah’s response below to the pre-charge bail consultation and use it to have your say on the protection you need once you report to the police. 

Use this completed response to the pre-charge bail consultation to help you submit your opinion before the April 29th deadline.