The government has agreed an amendment to the PCSCbill to protect rape victims from unnecessary “digital strip searches”:
data unless they “reasonably believe” that information stored on the device could be useful to the line of enquiry, but will also make it illegal for police to place “undue pressure” on a victim to agree to their phone being searched – putting an end to the often-traumaticThe Bill’s Code Of Practice will further specify that requesting any mobile phone data must only follow if it is “strictly necessary” in pursuit of the police’s line of inquiry, and victims must also be informed that declining...
“It has become practically routine for rape complainants to face intrusive and excessive demands for personal data from their electronic devices, with no relevance to the investigation of the crime in question. Refusal of these demands frequently leads to cases being dropped by prosecutors. “This has had a chilling effect on victim confidence and many victims are made to feel like they are the ones on trial, with their credibility repeatedly questioned and undermined.”However, there are fears that these new amendments don’t go far enough – and Baird is also proposing similar amendments to limit unjustified police demands for personal information held by third parties, such as victims’ lifelong medical and social services records.
that fears about disclosure and privacy can lead to survivors a) withdrawing their complaint or b) not reporting in the first place, there’s hope that these latest changes could help more survivors to secure the justice they deserve.revealing that fewer than one in 60 rape cases recorded by the police resulted in a suspect being charged, it’s safe to say more changes will be needed to ensure things actually improve.
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