Focus on rape conviction rates stopping women coming forward, warns Stern

A misleading focus on the proportion of rape cases that result in conviction has left victims' needs neglected and stopped women coming forward, the author of a landmark government review said.

The independent report by Baroness Stern was commissioned by the government last year in response to ongoing concerns over the level of rape cases resulting in convictions. But in an interview with the Guardian, Stern said that while they remained important, the conviction rate was "not the be all and end all".