They admitted their response to rape victims wasn't good enough - but now GMP have stepped up

Greater Manchester Police say they are arresting and charging more people with rape and sexual assault after previously coming under fire for 'failing' victims.

The force had been criticised by campaigners who said survivors of rape were being denied justice after figures revealed by the M.E.N showed just 2.4 per cent of completed cases resulted in a charge or summons after police finished considering the evidence.

Just one in 42 adult rapes investigated by GMP in the twelve months to March 2022 resulted in charge or summons, according to Home Office data.

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Speaking to the Manchester Evening News earlier this year, Detective Chief Superintendent Michaela Kerr, who is head of Public Protection, said despite some improvements their response was 'still not good enough.'

Experts had previously voiced concerns that the disbandment of specialist rape investigation units had in part been responsible for the drop in results.

But other campaigners, including former GMP detective turned whistle-blower, Maggie Oliver, said reinstating the units wouldn't solve the issue, and instead called for better training and retention of skilled officers across the force.

A new rape and sexual offences superintendent has subsequently been appointed at GMP, and the force was selected to work with the Home Office for Operation Soteria - a project bringing together academics and frontline police officers to develop a new national operating model for the investigation of rape.

In new figures released by the force today (Monday 10 July), the force revealed that in the twelve months to June 2023, there was a 4.2 per cent increase in the recording of