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Rape Prosecution Policy
This sets out the CPS' policy and guidance in relation to cases of rape
Archived publicationsRape Cases – Police referral to the Crown Prosecution Service for early investigative and other advice
Rape is an indictable only offence which must be tried in the Crown Court. Accordingly the decision to charge must be made by a Crown Prosecutor in accordance with the provisions of the Director's Guidance on Charging. This document provides further guidance for police and prosecutors about the existing requirements for early investigative and other advice.
Archived publicationsReport of the Independent Review into The Investigation and Prosecution of Rape in London by Rt Hon Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC
An independent review of how the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) investigate and prosecute rape cases has provided a timely, informative and candid overview of our joint-working practices; which will act as a framework for major changes in the future.
Archived publicationsRape Action Plan
The Crown Prosecution Service and the Police have published a joint Rape Action Plan following a National Scrutiny Panel held to consider the falling levels of referrals of rape cases as well as wider issues related to their investigation and prosecution. This Action Plan marks an important step in further improving our response to rape cases and victims.
Archived publicationsWhat is Consent?
This aide-memoire focuses on consent, as allegations of rape often involve the word of the complainant against that of the suspect. The aim is to challenge assumptions about consent and the associated victim-blaming myths/stereotypes and highlight the suspect's behaviour and motives to prove he did not reasonably believe the victim was consenting.
Archived publicationsToolkit for Prosecutors on Violence Against Women and Girls Cases Involving Vulnerable Victims
The purpose of this Toolkit is to support prosecutors dealing with Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) cases involving a vulnerable victim.
Archived publicationsCPS Violence against Women and Girls crime report 2016-2017
This is the tenth Crown Prosecution Service Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) annual report. It covers the following strands of Violence against Women and Girls: child abuse; domestic abuse; forced marriage; harassment; honour-based violence; human trafficking; pornography; prostitution; and rape and sexual offences. The report outlines our prosecution progress over the last decade and in 2016-17.
Archived publicationsCPS Public statement on male victims for crimes covered by the CPS VAWG Strategy
As part of the revised CPS VAWG Strategy the CPS has produced a Public Statement on male victims of offences including rape, domestic abuse, harassment, stalking and child sexual abuse. The CPS has always been committed to securing justice for all victims, both male and female, and applies policies fairly and equally.
Archived publicationsProstitution and Exploitation of Prostitution
Introduction General Issues Public Interest Considerations Drugs Conditional Cautioning Links with Human Trafficking
Performance Information15 September 2017
CPS 2017-2020 Violence Against Women Strategy and Action Plans
The CPS Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy 2017-2020 sets out the vision for developing our VAWG work in line with the wider CPS and cross-government VAWG Strategy Objectives.
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