Lessons from London: a contemporary examination of the factors affecting attrition among rape complaints
Open accessAbstract
Severe levels of attrition in rape cases within the criminal justice system are widely recognised. Previous reviews (e.g. Hohl & Stanko, 2015 Hohl, K., & Stanko, E. A. (2015). Complaints of rape and the criminal justice system: Fresh evidence on the attrition problem in England and Wales. European Journal of Criminology, 12(3), 324–341. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370815571949[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. Complaints of rape and the criminal justice system: Fresh evidence on the attrition problem in England and Wales. European Journal of Criminology, 12(3), 324–341) have provided information on the general profile of cases, their outcomes, and the relationship between the two, in attempts to understand these patterns. However, recent changes to the landscape of rape investigation (e.g. the impact of technology) justify a more contemporary assessment. The present study coded 446 cases of rape reported in London in April 2016, on a variety of victim, suspect, offence, and procedural characteristics, as well as case outcomes. We conducted descriptive analyses of case profiles and inferential examinations of the relationship between case characteristics and outcomes. Findings suggest the profile of victims, suspects, and the context of offences has remained mostly similar, with some noticeable changes (e.g. a larger array of victim vulnerabilities). Moreover, several existing, exacerbated, as well as novel procedural challenges present (e.g. delay due to workload, third party materials). Additionally, many rape-myth related case factors no longer predict case outcomes and officers instead may now engage in greater ‘downstream’ orientation, and anticipation of case uptake, when evaluating cases. Recommendations for policy and practice are discussed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The investigation of offenses involving male survivors has historically repeatedly failed to reach threshold for prosecution.
“the investigation of offenses that, historically, have repeatedly failed to reach threshold for prosecution (Hine, Murphy, Yesberg et al., 2021; Hohl & Stanko, 2015; Murphy et al., 2021).”
From “I Didn’t Feel I Was A Victim”: A Phenomenological Analysis of the Experiences of Male-on-male Survivors of Rape and Sexual Abuse (2022) · cites this paper as Murphy et al., 2021
Cites
Payne, D. L., Lonsway, K. A., & Fitzgerald, L. F. (1999) · Journal of Research in Personality · doi:10.1006/jrpe.1998.2238 · Cited by 1,114 · see citing works
A Gap or A Chasm?: Attrition in Reported Rape Cases
Kelly, L., Lovett, J., & Regan, L. (2005) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e669452007-001 · Cited by 407 · see citing works
Mont, J. D., Miller, K., & Myhr, T. L. (2003) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801202250960 · Cited by 389 · see citing works
Campbell, R. (2006) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801205277539 · Cited by 381 · see citing works
Rape and Attrition in the Legal Process: A Comparative Analysis of Five Countries
Daly, K., & Bouhours, B. (2010) · Crime and Justice · doi:10.1086/653101 · Cited by 343 · see citing works
Campbell, R., Patterson, D., & Lichty, L. F. (2005) · Trauma, Violence, & Abuse · doi:10.1177/1524838005280328 · Cited by 324 · see citing works
Frohmann, L. (1997) · Law & Society Review · doi:10.2307/3054045 · Cited by 313 · see citing works
Rape: challenging contemporary thinking
(2010) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.47-6332 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
Strategic use of evidence during police interviews: When training to detect deception works.
Hartwig, M., Granhag, P. A., Strömwall, L. A., & Kronkvist, O. (2006) · Law and Human Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10979-006-9053-9 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
(2000) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e377732004-001 · Cited by 283 · see citing works
Gateway to Justice: Police and Prosecutorial Response to Sexual Assaults against Women
Kerstetter, W. A. (1990) · The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-) · doi:10.2307/1143908 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Hohl, K., & Stanko, E. A. (2015) · European Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1177/1477370815571949 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
The Criminal Justice System’s Response to Sexual Violence
Spohn, C., & Tellis, K. (2012) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801212440020 · Cited by 230 · see citing works
The “Justice Gap” for Sexual Assault Cases
Lonsway, K. A., & Archambault, J. (2012) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801212440017 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
Grubb, A., & Harrower, J. (2008) · Aggression and Violent Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.avb.2008.06.006 · Cited by 215 · see citing works
Police perceptions of rape victims and the impact on case decision making: A systematic review
Sleath, E., & Bull, R. (2017) · Aggression and Violent Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.avb.2017.02.003 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Reporting Rape in a National Sample of College Women
Wolitzky-Taylor, K. B., Resnick, H. S., Amstadter, A. B., McCauley, J. L., Ruggiero, K. J., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (2011) · Journal of American College Health · doi:10.1080/07448481.2010.515634 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Worlds Apart? Women, Rape and the Police Reporting Process
Jordan, J. (2001) · The British Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1093/bjc/41.4.679 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Police Officer Schema of Sexual Assault Reports
Venema, R. M. (2014) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/0886260514556765 · Cited by 157 · see citing works
Dinos, S., Burrowes, N., Hammond, K., & Cunliffe, C. (2015) · International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice · doi:10.1016/j.ijlcj.2014.07.001 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Beyond surveys and scales: How rape myths manifest in sexual assault police records.
Shaw, J., Campbell, R., Cain, D., & Feeney, H. (2016) · Psychology of Violence · doi:10.1037/vio0000072 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Chen, Y.-Y., & Ullman, S. E. (2010) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801209360861 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
Police Training in Sexual Assault Response: Process, Outcomes, and Elements of Change
Lonsway, K. A., Welch, S., & Fitzgerald, L. F. (2001) · Criminal Justice and Behavior · doi:10.1177/009385480102800602 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
Unfounding Sexual Assault: Examining the Decision to Unfound and Identifying False Reports
Spohn, C., White, C., & Tellis, K. (2014) · Law & Society Review · doi:10.1111/lasr.12060 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Attrition in Rape Cases. Developing a Profile and Identifying Relevant Factors
Lea, S. J. (2003) · The British Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1093/bjc/43.3.583 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
The #MeToo movement: an opportunity in public health?
O'Neil, A. E., Sojo, V. E., Fileborn, B., Scovelle, A. J., & Milner, A. J. (2018) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)30991-7 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
ATTRITION IN RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES
Gregory, J., & Lees, S. (1996) · The British Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a014060 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
The (In)credible Words of Women: False Allegations in European Rape Research
Kelly, L. (2010) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801210387748 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
JUDGING WOMEN AND DEFINING CRIME: POLICE OFFICERS' ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMEN AND RAPE
Page, A. D. (2008) · Sociological Spectrum · doi:10.1080/02732170802053621 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Venema, R. M. (2016) · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · doi:10.1177/0886260516662437 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
From 'real rape' to real justice: A systematic review of police officers' rape myth beliefs
Parratt, K. A., & Pina, A. (2017) · Aggression and Violent Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.avb.2017.03.005 · Cited by 100 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Officers’ attitudes and behaviours have also been shown to impact case progression and attrition, with cases including rape myth-related information achieving less successful criminal justice outcomes (Hohl & Stanko, 2015; Parratt & Pina, 2017; Sleath & Bull, 2017).”
Hine, B., & Murphy, A. (2019) · Journal of Criminal Justice · doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2018.08.001 · Cited by 94 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Such myths have been shown to impact officers’ judgments of victims and perpetrators (Hine & Murphy, 2017, 2019), and to prompt mistrust of victims (Greuel, 2011; Hackett et al., 2008).”
Self-citationPolice interviews of sexual assault reporters: Do attitudes matter?
Rich, K., & Seffrin, P. (2012) · Violence and Victims · doi:10.1891/0886-6708.27.2.263 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Trauma-Informed Police Responses to Rape Victims
Rich, K. (2019) · Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma · doi:10.1080/10926771.2018.1540448 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Cohn, E. S., Dupuis, E. C., & Brown, T. M. (2009) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00493.x · Cited by 88 · see citing works
The Rape Myth and Blame‐Based Beliefs of Counselors‐in‐Training Toward Male Victims of Rape
Kassing, L. R., & Prieto, L. R. (2003) · Journal of Counseling & Development · doi:10.1002/j.1556-6678.2003.tb00272.x · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Turning Mirrors Into Windows?: Assessing the Impact of (Mock) Juror Education in Rape Trials
Ellison, L. E., & Munro, V. E. (2009) · The British Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1093/bjc/azp013 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Jordan, J. (2011) · Journal of Sexual Aggression · doi:10.1080/13552600.2011.613278 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Rape investigation and attrition in acquaintance, domestic violence and historical rape cases
Hester, M., & Lilley, S. (2017) · Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling · doi:10.1002/jip.1469 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Expectancy violation and perceptions of rape victim credibility
Hackett, L., Day, A., & Mohr, P. (2008) · Legal and Criminological Psychology · doi:10.1348/135532507x228458 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Reporting rape: Victim perspectives on advocacy support in the criminal justice process
Brooks, O., & Burman, M. (2016) · Criminology & Criminal Justice · doi:10.1177/1748895816667996 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Murphy, A. D., & Hine, B. A. (2018) · Psychology Crime and Law · doi:10.1080/1068316x.2018.1503663 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Self-citationInvestigating and detecting recorded offences of rape
Feist, A., Ashe, J., Lawrence, J., McPhee, D., & Wilson, R. (2007) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e468392008-001 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Hine, B. A., & Murphy, A. D. (2017) · Journal of Criminal Justice · doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2017.01.001 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Self-citationLathan, E. C., Langhinrichsen‐Rohling, J., Duncan, J., & Stefurak, T. (2019) · Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1002/jcop.22223 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Davidson, J. C. (2008) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203928738 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Almond, L., McManus, M., Brian, D., & Merrington, D. P. (2017) · Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research · doi:10.1108/jacpr-01-2016-0211 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
The Etiology of Risk in Sexual Offenders: A Preliminary Model
Brouillette‐Alarie, S., & Proulx, J. (2018) · Sexual Abuse · doi:10.1177/1079063218759325 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Hine, K., & Bragias, A. (2020) · Police Practice and Research · doi:10.1080/15614263.2020.1821681 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Cashmore, J., Taylor, A., & Parkinson, P. (2019) · Child Maltreatment · doi:10.1177/1077559519853042 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
The role of the specially trained officer in rape and sexual offence cases
McMillan, L. (2014) · Policing & Society · doi:10.1080/10439463.2014.912648 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Harris, J. (1999) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e452592008-001 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Chambers, G. A., & Millar, A. (1986) · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Factors Predicting Conviction in Stranger Rape Cases
Lundrigan, S., Dhami, M. K., & Agudelo, K. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00526 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
A NOTE ON THE ATTRITION OF RAPE CASES
Wright, R. A. (1984) · The British Journal of Criminology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a047468 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Leda and the Swan – And other myths about rape
Norfolk, G. A. (2011) · Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.jflm.2011.04.010 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Factors predicting conviction in child stranger rape
Lundrigan, S., Dhami, M. K., & Agudelo, K. (2019) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104242 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
The Criminal Justice Response to Sexual Assault in Canada
Roberts, J. V. (1996) · De Gruyter eBooks · doi:10.1515/9783110879483.384 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 59 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Lilley, C., Willmott, D., Mojtahedi, D., & Labhardt, D. (2023) · Social Sciences · doi:10.3390/socsci12010034 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Widanaralalage, B. K., Hine, B. A., Murphy, A. D., & Murji, K. (2022) · Victims & Offenders · doi:10.1080/15564886.2022.2069898 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
“Guideline Criteria Yardley (2000) Sensitivity to Context Commitment and Rigor Transparency and Coherence Impact and Importance J. A. Smith (2011) Adherence to IPA Philosophical Principles Transparency and Coherence in the Analysis Sufficient Sampling from the Corpus Keeping Focused and Offering Depth Presenting Strong…”
BackgroundSelf-citationStewart, S., Willmott, D., Murphy, A. D., & Phillips, C. (2023) · Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology · doi:10.1080/14789949.2023.2292103 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Self-citationWillmott, D., & Widanaralalage, B. K. (2024) · International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice · doi:10.1016/j.ijlcj.2023.100645 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Development and validation of the Male Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (MRMAS)
Hine, B. A., Murphy, A. D., & Churchyard, J. S. (2021) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07421 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Self-citationLussier, P., McCuish, E., Proulx, J., Thivierge, S. C., & Fréchette, J. (2022) · Criminology & Public Policy · doi:10.1111/1745-9133.12611 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Sowersby, C.-J., Erskine-Shaw, M., & Willmott, D. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.867991 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Friis-Rødel, A. M., Leth, P. M., & Astrup, B. S. (2021) · Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.jflm.2021.102159 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Understanding sexual violence and factors related to police outcomes
Davies, K., Spence, R., Cummings, E., Cross, M., & Horvath, M. A. H. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.977318 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Willmott, D., Rafique, A., Widanaralalage, B. K., & Agneswaran, A. (2025) · Psychiatry, Psychology and Law · doi:10.1080/13218719.2024.2314000 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
The attrition problem: The role of police officer's decision making in rape cases
Sinclair, O. (2022) · Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling · doi:10.1002/jip.1601 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Daly, E. (2021) · Crime Media Culture An International Journal · doi:10.1177/17416590211048251 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Male Victims of Sexual Violence and Their Welfare in the Criminal Justice System
Widanaralalage, B. K., Hine, B. A., & Murphy, A. D. (2022) · Men and Welfare · doi:10.4324/9781003178811-14 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Self-citationPolicing rape and serious sexual offences: officers’ insights on police specialism
Barbin, A., Gekoski, A., Davies, K., & Horvath, M. A. H. (2024) · Journal of Criminal Psychology · doi:10.1108/jcp-07-2024-0063 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Issues with using police data to investigate offending: A research perspective
Spence, R., & Crivatu, I. M. (2025) · The Police Journal Theory Practice and Principles · doi:10.1177/0032258x251313944 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Bennett, S., Gilmour, J., Carr, K., Helton, K., & Anderson, K. (2025) · Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing · doi:10.1007/s41887-025-00098-z · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Posch, L., & Kemme, S. (2024) · Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology · doi:10.1007/s11896-024-09719-1 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Male Rape: Prevalence, Consequences, and Myths
Widanaralalage, B. K. (2024) · Sexual Crime · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-46626-7_4 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Ferreira, J., Horvath, M. A. H., & Davies, K. (2025) · Journal of Criminal Psychology · doi:10.1108/jcp-06-2024-0046 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Hermolle, M., Kent, A., Locke, A., & Andrews, S. J. (2024) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs14090837 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Daly, E. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-93925-0_2 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Improving police investigation of intimate partner sexual violence: challenges and opportunities
Wiener, C., Myhill, A., & Pullerits, M. (2025) · Policing & Society · doi:10.1080/10439463.2025.2515395 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Kelleher, S. M., Ciardha, C. Ó., & Ildeniz, G. (2026) · Journal of Criminal Justice · doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2026.102619 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Whitten, D., & Went, C. (2025) · The Police Journal Theory Practice and Principles · doi:10.1177/0032258x251318212 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
The Meaning of Missing: The Hidden Power of Police Data Recording Practices in Rape Cases
Uzelac, G., Buil‐Gil, D., Hohl, K., & Lovett, J. (2025) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/10778012251397982 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
The relationship between investigative effort and case outcome: a systematic review
de Leeuw, N., van der Kemp, J. J., Ruiter, S., & Schoonmade, L. J. (2026) · Policing An International Journal · doi:10.1108/pijpsm-12-2025-0261 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
(2022) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/978-1-80071-152-520220010
Brown, J. M., Shell, Y., & Cole, T. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-28616-2_4
Brown, J., Shell, Y., & Cole, T. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-28616-2_2
Brown, J., Shell, Y., & Cole, T. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-28616-2_3
Pas-iwen, J. G., & Cawi, R. D. (2025) · International Review of Victimology · doi:10.1177/02697580251357966
Pullerits, M., Myhill, A., & Wiener, C. (2026) · Policing & Society · doi:10.1080/10439463.2026.2648849
Five Decades of Research on Rape Myths and Victim Interpretation
Trudeau, E., & Carmi, R. (2026) · Behavioral Sciences & the Law · doi:10.1002/bsl.70060
Williams, H., & Jobe, A. (2026) · Police Practice and Research · doi:10.1080/15614263.2026.2670464
The Role of Interviewer Training Regarding Adult Sexual Assault Complainants
Tidmarsh, P., & Milne, R. (2026) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-15938-0_14
Kemme, S., & Posch, L. (2026) · Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology · doi:10.1007/s11896-026-09873-8
- Authors
- Murphy, A., Hine, B., Yesberg, J. A., Wunsch, D., & Charleton, B.
- Affiliations
- University of West London (GB)
- University College London (GB)
- Evidence & Insight, London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime
- Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Murphy, Anthony
- Venue
- Psychology, Crime & Law
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2021-02-03
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 82-114
- ISSN
- 1068-316X (ISSN-L)
- 1477-2744
- OpenAlex
- W3126683412
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 3
- FWCI
- 7.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- orcid.org
- Locations
- Psychology Crime and Law (publishedVersion)
- UWL Repository (University of West London) (acceptedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Victoria University of Wellington
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Keywords
- case attrition, rape investigation, criminal justice system, case outcomes, victim characteristics, suspect characteristics, rape myths, London
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
