Hundreds of suspected rapists 'wrongly labelled as women in CPS referrals' - despite Suella Braverman's orders not to
7 October 2023, 00:53 | Updated: 7 October 2023, 01:13
Hundreds of suspected rapists are said to have been wrongly labelled as women in CPS referrals - despite Suella Braverman telling police not to do so.
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Over the past four years, police referred 260 “females” to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consider a rape charge, figures obtained under freedom of information laws revealed.
A further 209 suspects were said to have been recorded with an “unknown” sex, which is understood to include non-binary people, according to the data shared with the Telegraph.
By law, rape can only be committed by a biological male.
The CPS revealed that, since 2019, about 1.5 per cent of rape suspects referred for a charging decision were recorded by police as “female” and around 1.2 per cent “unknown”.
The number of alleged rapists with an “unknown” gender increased from around one or two a year 10 years ago to 71 referrals last year.
Four years ago, 40 “females” were referred for rape and 17 were charged. A year later, 56 were referred and prosecutors charged 46.
In 2021, the CPS received 81 “female” referrals for rape and charged 29 while in 2022 there were 64 referrals with 26 charged.
It comes after the controversy around transgender rapist, Isla Bryson, who was initially sent to a Scottish women’s prison before being moved to a men’s jail.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman last year said the practice of labelling rape suspects as women was wrong, instructing officers to adopt a “common sense” approach to policing.
She said that “in no instance” was it biologically or legally right for a rapist to be described as a “she”.
“Not only is that wrong because a woman cannot legally be a rapist, but also it’s grossly insensitive and insulting to the victims of rape who are biological women,” she told the Telegraph.
A source close to Ms Braverman said: "Only men can be rapists and official police information should be reflecting that wherever appropriate – anything else is a nonsense."
Some campaigners have said the system is an “insult” to victims of sexual violence, arguing that the data is "useless" in tackling offending.
