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Rape Investigations

Sample letter - this can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.


To be personalised and sent by the individual sender

Issue: Rape investigations

Who to send it to: Your MP

Purpose: To ask for stronger scrutiny, better survivor support, and more effective investigation of rape and serious sexual offences.


Letter template

[Your Full Name]

[Your Street Address]

[Town/City]

[Postcode]

[Email Address]

[Telephone Number – optional]


[Date]

[MP’s Name]

House of Commons

London

SW1A 0AA


Subject: Concern about rape investigations and support for survivors


Dear [MP’s Name],


I am writing as one of your constituents to raise concern about the way rape and serious sexual offence cases are being investigated and progressed in England and Wales.


Rape investigations are not only criminal justice matters. They affect survivor safety, public confidence, police accountability, court delay, mental health, families and wider communities. Many survivors experience long waits, poor communication and uncertainty about whether their case will ever reach charge, prosecution or trial.


According to the Office for National Statistics, in Crime in England and Wales: year ending March 2026, Section 9: Sexual victimisation, police recorded 74,727 rape offences in England and Wales, and rape accounted for around 34% of all police-recorded sexual offences.


Home Office crime outcomes data for the year ending March 2025 also shows that rape offences assigned a charge/summons outcome took an average of 434 days to investigate. This demonstrates why delay, communication and proper investigative standards remain urgent public concerns.


I recognise that rape and serious sexual offence investigations can be complex. However, complexity must not become an excuse for avoidable delay, weak communication or inconsistent practice. 


Survivors should be treated with dignity, investigations should be properly resourced, and cases should be pursued in a way that focuses on the suspect’s behaviour rather than placing unnecessary pressure on the victim.


Relevant case law has recognised that serious failures in rape and serious sexual offence investigations can engage the state’s obligations under Article 3 ECHR. This underlines why rape investigation failures are matters of public accountability, not merely administrative inconvenience. 


Please can you raise this issue in Parliament and ask the relevant Minister what further action is being taken to:


  1. reduce delays in rape and serious sexual offence investigations;

  2. ensure specialist rape and sexual offence investigation teams are properly resourced and consistent across police forces;

  3. improve survivor communication throughout investigations and prosecutions;

  4. strengthen suspect-focused investigations under Operation Soteria;

  5. improve access to independent legal advice and specialist support for survivors;

  6. ensure police, prosecutors and courts are held accountable where avoidable failures cause further harm.


Please can you also confirm what steps you are willing to take on behalf of your constituents regarding rape investigations, survivor support and criminal justice accountability?

Yours sincerely,

[Your Full Name]


Before sharing this template, check all links, proofread the wording, add page numbers, and download the final version 


Download the letter here



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