More than 4,000 rape and sexual assault offences have been reported to North Wales and Dyfed-Powys police forces last year – but the numbers that actually result in charges is miniscule.
In the area covered by North Wales Police, just 3 per cent resulted in charges pr a summons. The patch covered by Dyfed Powys, fared marginally better, with 4 per cent resulting in action.
Alarmingly, the number of reported sex assault offences in North Wales increased from 2,446 the year before, to 2,558 offences.
But of those reported in the last year, just 70 resulted in a charge or summons.
The data has been obtained by the Sexual Abuse Compensation Service (SACA) and revealed that between September 2023 and 2024, a total of 1,686 offences were reported to Dyfed-Powys Police, but just 47 resulted in a charge or summons.
Dyfed-Powys Police, the agency says, heard reports of 1,141 sexual assault offences as well as a further 545 incidents of rape. SACA says 552 offences are still under investigation.
Sexual Abuse Claims Specialist, Ellie Lamey says it is “staggeringly low” and “it is important victims know that support is available.”
The majority of rape and sexual offence victims and alleged perpetrators were between the ages of 0-17.
SACA also obtained new data from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) - which is a government-backed organisation that can offer compensation to victims of sexual abuse.
In the last year, the CICA received 13,313 applications from alleged victims of sexual assault or abuse.
Of those, 1,763 received compensation - that’s just 13 per cent.
Ms Lamey said: “The number of sexual assault or abuse victims who have applied for CIC is staggeringly low compared to the number of offences being reported to police forces across the UK.”
This, along with mammoth delays in the court system and the early release of prisoners is, of course, hugely concerning for victims.
It comes as the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, Jess Phillips says victims are being “let down time and time again.”
The most common sexual offence reported to North Wales Police in the last year was sexual assault on a female aged 13 or over, of which there were 589 logged by the force.
Attempted rape of a male child under 13 by a male was the second most common offence, accounting for 500 reports, while a further 134 offences were reported for sexual activity with a male child under 16 with penetration and offender aged under 18.
The latest figures from the Home Office show nearly 1.9 million violent or sexual crimes in England and Wales were closed without a suspect being caught or charged in the year to June 2024 - about 89 per cent of all offences given an outcome.
Minister Jess Phillips said: “It is completely unacceptable that fewer and fewer violent and sexual crimes are being solved, with more victims being let down time and time again.
“The severity of these numbers prove why violence against women and girls is a national emergency and that is why we have set out our unprecedented mission to halve it in a decade.”
SACA's investigation also uncovered the main reasons why victims are rejected by the CICA. They include; the incident was not a ‘crime of violence’, the application was made outside the relevant time limit, failure to co-operate with bringing the assailant to justice and failure to co-operate with the CICA.
In the last year, the organisation paid out compensation totalling £18,463,509.85 to victims of sexual abuse.
Ms Lamey added: “It is so important that victims know there is support available for them and not to be deterred or fearful of rejection.
“Victims should be aware that they can report historical periods of abuse/assaults to the police, regardless of the amount of time that has passed.
“Victims can avoid rejections by ensuring they fully cooperate with the police in bringing the assailant to justice as well as seeking appropriate medical attention regarding any physical or psychological injuries sustained from the assault they are a victim of.
“CICA data from 2020-2022 shows that 18 per cent of applications are submitted outside of the two-year time limit, and of these 61 per cent went on to receive an award.
“With relevant evidence, we can provide exceptional circumstances that have contributed to the delay in a victim submitting an application.”
SACA offers a specialist service for anyone looking for support and advice after being affected by rape or sexual assault.
They operate a 24-hour helpline and live chat service which you can access on their website.
The backlog of open crown court cases in North Wales has risen by two-thirds over the last five years while the number of cases waiting to be heard across England and Wales has nearly doubled.
Baroness Newlove, the victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, said the figure represented a "failure of our justice system" which "cannot go on", adding: "Change must come".
Figures from the Ministry of Justice show there were 464 open cases waiting to be heard by crown courts in North Wales as of the end of September.
It marks a 65.12 per cent increase since September 2019, before the Covid pandemic, when there were 281 cases.
Nationally, the backlog stood at 73,105 cases at the end of September, a 10 per cent rise on the previous year and nearly double since September 2019, when there were 35,310 cases outstanding.
Prosecutors have warned victims are facing waiting times of between two and five years before a case goes to trial, with court listings now running into 2027.
The director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson recently described delays faced by victims as "totally unacceptable" and said the wait times in the criminal justice system are "probably worse than I’ve ever known them to be".
The figures show 5,660 cases have been waiting for two years or more at the end of September while just 592 were waiting this long at the end of December 2019.
Snaresbrook Crown Court in London had the largest share of the backlog (3,442) followed by Manchester Minshull Street (2,378) and Maidstone in Kent (2,367).
The latest figures prompted the Government to announce it has drafted in retired judge Sir Brian Leveson to carry out a major review of the courts system.
Newly appointed justice minister Sarah Sackman told reporters it had become "apparent" there was "nothing short of a crisis in the crown court system" in the eight days she had been in-post.
"The crown court caseload is at record levels, those levels are rising and if we don’t do anything about it, we’ll soon be in the territory of a caseload backlog of six figures," she warned.
Measures already taken are "barely touching the sides and what’s actually needed is fundamental reform," she said, adding: "We’ve asked Sir Brian to consider all options."
In North Wales there were 60 sexual offences cases waiting to be heard, as well as 33 theft offence cases and 182 for violence against the person.
Ministers have suggested that scrapping jury trials in some cases could be among measures considered to cut the backlog.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the "scale of the crown court crisis inherited by this Government is unprecedented".
She continued: "Despite the efforts of judges, lawyers and court staff, we simply cannot continue with the status quo."
Rape Crisis England and Wales said increased charging rates and access to specialist sexual violence support is vital, as recent data shows rape offences took police forces the longest time to investigate and charge.
Home Office figures show there were 474 rape offences recorded by Dyfed-Powys Police in the year to March. Of them, eight resulted in a charge or summons – accounting for just 1.7 per cent.
Meanwhile, the police force had an average charge and summons rate of 5.7 per cent across all offences.
Across England and Wales, 2.6 per cent of rape offences led to a charge or summons, while the overall charge rate for all recorded offences was 6.4 per cent.
Ciara Bergman, chief executive of Rape Crisis, said: "This data reflects what we already know: the criminal justice system must do better for victims and survivors."
"Those survivors who take the brave steps to report rape and sexual assault do so with the expectation that there will be accountability for the perpetrator. That just 2.6 per of adult rape investigations result in a charge or summons is unacceptable."
She added: "With so many survivors being denied their opportunity to seek criminal justice, it's clear that the system isn't working. But we need more than a level of commitment; we need to see drastic improvements."
The Home Office said rape offences that led to a charge or court summons took the longest time to investigate, at an average of 423 days. This is compared with 55 days for violence against the person offences and 28 days for theft offences.
Of the rape offences recorded in Dyfed and Powys, 29.5 per were not assigned an outcome as of last March, meaning they were still under investigation.
Meanwhile, 36.7 per cent were closed due to evidential difficulties where the suspect was identified, but the victim did not support further action.
Ms Bergman added: "Increasing charging rates is vitally important, but so too is access to specialist sexual violence support.
"All survivors, whether they choose to report or not, deserve specialist support to understand the profound impacts of trauma and re-establish life after sexual violence and abuse."
She said demand for these services has reached "unprecedented levels" in recent years with 14,000 people currently on Rape Crisis waiting lists. She added long-term, sustainable funding for specialist sexual violence support and advocacy services is urgently needed.
Separate figures from The Crown Prosecution Service show 3,847 suspects were charged in all rape cases referred for a charging decision in 2023-24, a 28 per cent increase on the year before.
The CPS said it consistently charges around seven out of 10 rape or serious sexual offence cases referred by police for a charging decision.
A government spokesperson said: "In far too many cases, rape victims aren’t getting the justice they deserve. It is important that police and prosecutors work together in a timely way to build the strongest possible case.
"We have committed to fast-tracking rape cases and are carefully considering the best way to do this. We are working with the judiciary and will announce next steps in due course."
ONS figures show 1,723 sexual offences were recorded by Dyfed-Powys Police in the year to December 2022 – a record high since equivalent records began in the year to September 2007. In the North Wales Police area, 2,746 sexual offences were recorded by North Wales Police in the year to December 2022, up from 2,495 sexual offences recorded the year before.
Diana Fawcett, chief executive of the charity Victim Support, said: "We are seriously concerned that sexual offences have reached a record high for the second year in a row."
Ms Fawcett added these figures reflect what the charity is seeing as cases referred to them have increased by a third compared to before the pandemic.
"Tackling this insidious violence needs to be the government’s top priority, alongside ensuring all victims are treated with respect and given support to recover," she added.
The figures also show over 697,500 stalking and harassment offences were recorded across forces last year. This was relatively in line with the year before, but a 44 per cent increase compared to the pre-pandemic year ending March 2020.
In Dyfed and Powys, stalking and harassment offences rose from 4,353 pre-coronavirus to 10,507 last year.
The ONS said the latest statistics may reflect a number of factors, including the "impact of high-profile incidents, media coverage and campaigns on people’s willingness to report incidents to the police, as well as a potential increase in the number of victims".