The creation of specialist courts to try rape and serious sexual offences in England and Wales is a welcome recognition from the government that the status quo is unacceptable. Victims, the vast majority of whom are women and girls, are being failed by a system that too often appears blind to the obstacles in the way of anyone who wants to see a perpetrator brought to justice. In 2025, rape cases took an average of 424 days after they had reached the crown court. Added to pre‑trial delays, this means thousands of lives being placed on hold for years.
Long waits are simply unendurable in many cases; a rape review ordered by Conservative ministers in 2021 found that the proportion of complainants dropping out of cases had risen from 25% to 43% in five years. As well as the harm caused to individuals, there is an obvious impact on public safety when perpetrators go unpunished, and chances to rehabilitate them are missed.
Plans for clearer scheduling, so that rape trial dates are fixed in advance, ought to make the whole experience easier to manage. A funding boost for victim support services, and commitment to greater continuity, will strengthen the framework around them. This follows other recent changes, including an extension of the period during which a sentence can be reviewed, included in the Victims and Courts Act.
The justice secretary, Alex Norris. Photograph: Ian Davidson/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Ministers have already committed, in their violence against women and girls strategy, to specialist units in every police force. This week’s announcement signals that an important argument has been won, about the need for dedicated training and tailored approaches in the courts as well. But implementation of both commitments will be a huge challenge. The prime minister, Andy Burnham, has set an ambitious timetable. Specialist police units are due to be in place by the end of next year, with the courts given slightly longer to prepare facilities including separate waiting rooms for victims and links to observe sentencing hearings remotely.
Two new taskforces have been unveiled in recent days. One will bring together experts to focus on rape justice. The other, chaired by Bridget Phillipson, the women and equalities minister, will focus on misogynistic attitudes. This twin-track approach is promising in that it addresses the underlying causes of violence against women and girls, as well as the criminal justice response. But having pledged to halve such violence in a decade, ministers will need results to convince the public that they are on track. This is all the more important given past failures, and the eagerness of rightwing parties to exploit the issue of violence against women at every chance.
The backlog in the courts is a problem that goes wider than sexual offences. Restricting jury trials was the wrong solution, but a bigger role for magistrates has the potential to bring down waiting times. Court hours should be increased where this is feasible. Scrutiny of the Crown Prosecution Service’s decisions on rape cases must also continue, along with efforts to tackle the disturbing rise in online sexual offences, including image-sharing. The criminalisation of pornography featuring strangulation should be viewed as a step on a journey towards making the internet a safer place. This is a daunting agenda that stretches across government. But with concrete changes to the courts and victim support, ministers have shown an intention to grasp it.
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