Sexual abuse by a police officer
Shannon King looks at the growing problem of sexual abuse by a police officer.
A substantial number of disturbing reports are emerging around police officers’ criminality, particularly regarding sexual abuse of women both on and off duty. In many cases charges have been brought and officers convicted of sexual assault. Several police forces have recently had former officers imprisoned for raping and sexually abusing female colleagues, vulnerable victims (including juveniles) and other members of our society.
The Metropolitan Police employ approximately 45,000 individuals and is a predominantly white British, male dominated force with a history of encompassing a misogynistic culture. The kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by former Met constable Wayne Couzens sparked the need for the re-vetting of its officers and staff. This has led to the formation of a specialist police team in order to tackle domestic and sexual abuse allegations against their own in an attempt to eliminate from the force those officers who are guilty of such offences. This has opened up approximately 1,600 cases concerning police constables and staff which have already been investigated in the past ten years but did not result in dismissal.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) are also seeing an increased number of referrals after stating that ‘abuse of position for a sexual purpose’ (APSP) is now the most common type of corruption they deal with. They have also reported that investigations into APSP are yielding positive results in that increasing numbers of police officers and staff are facing gross misconduct proceedings.
Sexual abuse can include a number of actions such as pursuing an improper relationship with a member of society (whether emotional or sexual) initiating sexual communications, sexual touching, sexual assault and rape.
If you have been affected by any form of sexual abuse by a police officer, staff member, or volunteer please contact our free legal helpline for a case review and details of our No Win, No Fee funding option.