Rape victims are being failed by the medical evidence

Clare Dyer rightly highlights the concern that services for complainants of sexual assault are becoming increasingly disparate across the UK, with many police forces outsourcing these services to commercial companies that employ overseas doctors with little experience or commitment to the work (Evidence-gathering in rape cases in crisis, doctors warn, May 8). The new faculty of forensic and legal medicine, which has been established by the Royal College of Physicians, shares this concern. Although the number of reported rapes represents only a tiny proportion of all recorded crimes, the severity of its impact on victims and the fear of the crime give it major importance within the criminal justice system. The marked decline in the percentage of successful prosecutions for rape offences, which in the UK has dropped from 33% in 1977 to 5.6% in 2002, is therefore a cause for serious concern.

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