ABSTRACT
Many survivors of rape in England and Wales who report their rape to the police feel that the criminal justice system has failed them and that their needs are not adequately met by State provision. 1 In many instances, support offered to rape survivors by Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) is good, but does not necessarily provide the level and type of support that women most want. The desire to discover what women tell us about their experiences of rape, reporting to the police, and the type of support they would like, led a feminist activist group (Campaign to End Rape) to conduct a piece of research. This chapter examines some initial findings from that research on what should be done about rape. It reports on some results within this new research into women’s views on rape. These views are examined here in the contexts which led to the new study. While considering these findings the chapter also measures the human rights response against a feminist anti-rape approach. It also considers whether a human rights claim, under Art. 3 of the Convention, might aid change which could fit with women’s demands.
