A former Met Police commissioner’s claims were scrutinized by a watchdog after he claimed the “bulk” of rape reports were just “regretful sex”, reports Metro.
Sir Stephen House has been Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police since 10 April 2022 following the resignation of Dame Cressida Dick.
The allegation was made by Professor Betsy Stanko, a Home Office consultant appointed to lead Operation Soteria Bluestone, a major overhaul of the way the police force responds to rape cases.
Speaking to Channel 4 News, Professor Stanko said: “It felt as if he [Sir Stephen] was trying to minimise what the problem was, not taking it seriously,” reports Metro.
Sir Stephen has ‘categorically’ denied all allegations against him and said he welcomes the IOPC inquiry into the incident.
Operation Soteria was launched in 2021 with the aim of increasing the number of rape cases reaching court.
The latest report from the operation, released in December, found widespread shortcomings in the rape and sexual offenses police units and found that officers “displayed a culture of disbelieving victims,” reports Metro.
Professor Stanko’s research concluded that underlying bias in the police was part of the problem, along with a lack of expert knowledge about the case and a lack of empathy among victims.
Regarding the term “regretful sex,” Stanko said, “The only way I understand the term regretful sex – and it was said by officers elsewhere, in the other forces that we visited and researched – it is something about the victim. Again, the victim is mistaken,” reports Metro.
She said the problem was that the officers, instead of focusing on the facts or evidence, treated the case as a case of confusion on the part of the victim.
Sir Stephen’s comments were said to have been made in January 2022, while he served as acting commissioner of the Met Police after his predecessor, Dame Cressida Dick, resigned following a series of scandals.
In a statement regarding the accusations, Sir Stephen House said: ‘I have dedicated over four decades of public service to protecting the public from predatory offenders. I categorically deny using the phrase “regretful sex”. These are not words I have ever used in relation to rape or sexual assault and the reason I am so certain that I did not say this is because I simply do not believe it; I find the phrase abhorrent,” reports Metro.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.