I Don’t Think I Would Report It
The piece below was submitted anonymously to Make Yourself Heard after seeing recent statistics around rape charge rates in England and Wales. We are sharing it because behind every statistic is a person - and because these conversations leave a lasting impact on far more people than many realise
An anonymous submission
I saw a statistic last week on Make Yourself Heard saying fewer than 3 in 100 rape cases may end in a charge, and I honestly haven’t stopped thinking about it since. I just keep thinking about how much someone has to put themselves through to report something like that in the first place.
Having to talk about it. Repeat yourself. Hand over your phone and private messages. Wait months or years for updates. Carry all of that while still trying to live your normal life. And then to know how unlikely it is to actually go anywhere. I don’t know. It just made me feel really sad. Not even angry at first, just sad for people who already went through something awful and then have to somehow find the energy to keep proving themselves afterwards too.
Because I think a lot of people imagine reporting rape as one conversation, one statement, one decision. But for many people, it becomes this long, draining thing that quietly follows them around for months or years. And when the chances of a charge are that low, it’s hard not to understand why so many people never report at all. Not because they’re lying. Not because they “want attention”. But because the process itself can feel exposing, exhausting and uncertain from the very beginning.
I think statistics like this do more than shock people. They slowly damage trust, too. And that feels really difficult to sit with. And honestly, I do not even know how we begin fixing that.
Based on everything I have read and heard recently, I genuinely do not think I would report it myself. And I think that says something much bigger than this statistic alone.
