This report and news has largely been ignored by the mainstream media – it dominated headline for a handful of days, and then was buried amongst all the other (many) parliamentary scandals. But we must not let this go, we must not allow yet another MP accused of sexual assault to avoid consequences. Of course Crispin Blunt is “confident” that this accusation will not end in charges, and why shouldn’t he be?
The distressing truth is that if you are raped in Britain today, your chances of seeing justice are incredibly slim. 68,109 rapes were recorded by police between July 2022 and June 2023. By the end of that 12-month period, charges had been brought in just 2.2% (1,498) of cases. Meaning just 2 in 100 rapes recorded by police between July 2022 and June 2023 resulted in someone being charged that same year. Let alone convicted. And those are just the cases that make it to the police. 5 in 6 women who are raped don’t report – and the same is true for 4 in 5 men.
Cabinet minister Gillian Keegan insisted that there is no “cultural issue” among Tory MPs following a series of suspensions. The education secretary said Rishi Sunak has been “clear about high standards” and “always follows due process” when asked about the arrest of Crispin Blunt. “No, I certainly don’t see a cultural issue among Conservative MPs. I see individual incidents which are all investigated as such,” she said.
MPs in the UK are protected by the establishment- they rarely ever get held accountable when they act inappropriately or break the law.
It is an insult to victims to say there isn’t a “cultural issue” in Westminster; when allegedly 56 MPs are being reported for sexual misconduct, how could there not be?
For more from GLAMOUR’s Contributing Editor, Chloe Laws, follow her @chloegracelaws.