The number of women dropping out of rape cases has doubled to four in ten in six years amid increasing court delays, figures show.
Home Office data shows that the proportion of rape victims deciding to withdraw their support for a prosecution has increased from 19.7 per cent in 2015 to 42 per cent in 2021 and 2022.
The drop out rate has contributed to a collapse in the number of rape investigations resulting in a charge from seven per cent in 2015/16 to 1.3 per cent, just one in 70.
Police and victims' campaigners blame the growing delays in trials for contributing to the rising drop out rate, with some rape victims having to wait up to five years before their case reaches court.
Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data shows that a rape victim has to wait on average two years, comprising 354 days from reporting the crime to the alleged perpetrator being charged, and a further 353 days from the case arriving at the crown court to the trial being completed.
Zoe Billingham, a former HM inspector of police, warned that the result is that perpetrators "get off scot free".
"Cases don't proceed because the victim doesn't support police action. That's the terminology used, but what that means is the victim gets completely ground down and worn out with waiting," she said.
"They may turn up to court and the case is adjourned. They feel unsupported by the whole system, wanting to get on with their lives and just eventually giving up hope and ending in despair.
"These are people that have come forward to the criminal justice system. Only a small minority of people do that and it's devastating. It has a terrible impact on individuals' lives and families."
Her comments follow the case of a 13-year-old rape victim facing a three-year wait for trial because of court delays, which her father said had left her unable to leave the house.
The teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was raped on her way home from meeting her friends in broad daylight two years ago. A man was charged and a trial date set for June 2022.
However, just days before the trial was due to begin, her family were informed via email that there would in fact be a nine-month delay because there was no available judge.
Dame Vera Baird, the victims' commissioner, said victims also dropped out because of intrusive questioning and analysis of personal digital data by police and prosecutors, with particular sensitivities around requests for therapy notes where they might relive the offence.
She said in her experience it was also concerns about digital or other messages being disclosed that implicated their family. "It might be that they didn't want their dad to know about a particular thing," she said.
"Thirdly it is being brought to court and sent away, then told your case is on June 23rd. You lose sleep for two months before that, you come to court, or maybe the day before, you are told that it is being adjourned until after Christmas," she said.
"Then you think, can I live with this any more. I have gone through trauma, I have gone through sleepless nights. I have now been dumped. I cannot do another Christmas with this hanging over me."
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