Just a fraction of rape investigations in Cumbria resulted in someone being charged last year, new figures reveal.

It comes as the Government launches a new strategy aimed at tackling violence against women and girls, which includes a focus on prevention and improving the criminal justice response to offences that disproportionately affect women, such as rape and harassment.

A consultation into the plan was reopened following the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in London earlier this year, which reignited a national debate around women's safety.

The new VAWG strategy is published against a backdrop of poor conviction rates for rape nationally, despite the number of reported incidents on the rise. Home Office figures reveal Cumbria Constabulary concluded 412 rape investigations, where the alleged victim was female, in the year to March – but only 19 (5 per cent) resulted in a charge or summons.

The force dropped 333 investigations (81 per cent) due to difficulties gathering evidence and 39 cases (9 per cent) because a suspect could not be identified. Cumbria Constabulary charged a suspect in a sex offence case 127 times in 2020-21, equating to just 10 per cent investigations closed over the period.