Accounting less than 1% of them. More than 1500,<> police officers charged with crimes against women in London

LONDON (Reuters) - London's Metropolitan Police last week unveiled a new report suggesting that more than 1500,1 UK police officers are accused of violent crimes against women and girls, while less than <>% of those accused are held accountable.

The report included numerous abuses including harassment, assault and abuse of authority, and police announced that nearly half of the complaints and 3 quarters of the conduct cases had not been resolved at the time of the report's data collection.

The data, released in the performance appraisal report, revealed that between October 2021 and March 2022, 653 cases of nefarious behaviour by 672 police officers were reported, all related to violence against women and girls by police forces in England and Wales, as well as the British Transport Police (BTP).

During the same period, 524 public complaints were registered against 867 police officers, equivalent to 0.7% of the police workforce employed in March 2022.

Sexual assault

The report found that the most common types of behaviour issues are nefarious behaviour (48%), followed by sexual assault (19%) and sexual harassment (13%).

These figures raise concerns about the prevalence of such behaviour within the police force and highlight the need for immediate action, which prompted Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blythe to investigate those involved and take all legal action to reduce crimes and nefarious behaviour against women and girls.

Many stakeholders have also followed the performance of police evaluations intensively, especially after the scandal of the murder of citizen Sarah Everard after she was raped and then burned by a policeman - who was on duty at the time - known as Wayne Cousins, who was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The circulation of Everard's case has encouraged more victims of convicted policeman Queens, to file several previous incidents that they did not report for fear of his power, and he was already convicted of three crimes, the first week of March, and sentenced to 3 months in prison on those new charges.

Baroness Louise Casey report reveals that racism against women is a pervasive institutional feature within London's police service (Getty Images)

Race and gender

British Baroness Louis Casey's report, which included an independent 1.5-year investigation that reviewed all Metropolitan Police procedures, revealed a pervasive culture of bullying and discrimination, and that racism against women is an institutional feature that remains pervasive within the police force.

The casey report revealed that 22 percent of officers were victims who had personally been bullied, including a police officer stuffing his Muslim colleague's shoes with bacon, and the study also highlighted methodological shortcomings in dealing with crimes against women, especially girls.

The report showed the intersections of race, gender and other inequalities that leave black, vulnerable and underage women and girls facing disproportionate rates of violence, and the figures indicated that dark-skinned rape victims in London are twice as likely as white, and victims of domestic violence are more likely to be in the same proportion.

He also highlighted that violence is directed at women in general, even female police officers have been sexually assaulted by higher-ranking male officers, and the report also noted incidents of humiliation, urination on people, rape in bathrooms, and exposing the case of deliberately destroying refrigerators containing evidence of rape cases.

The report concluded that the Metropolitan's policing system lacks accountability and transparency, with barriers to scrutiny, and Baroness Casey stressed that if progress is not made, radical structural options must be considered.

Victims don't complain

Al Jazeera Net contacted the media office of the "End Violence Against Women" coalition to respond to these reports, where he stressed "We welcome the focus of the reports on improving women's and girls' access to safety and justice within the recommendations included in the Soteria program, which consists of groups specialized only in dealing with rape and serious sexual crimes."

Soteria is a specialized domestic violence service to create more focus on women victims and work closely and in a more integrated manner with specialized domestic violence services from outside the police force.

The coalition's detailed letter noted that the vast majority of survivors of violence do not seek justice through the criminal justice system, and do not even file a complaint, and this is particularly true for minors and migrants of color and marginalized.

Andrea Simon, director of the Coalition to End Violence against Women (EVAW), commented on what she described as institutional misogyny and racism at the Metropolitan Police, noting that these reports and statements should lead to a tangible shift in the approach to police in the UK.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Simon praised the recommendations of Baroness Casey's report regarding transparency, accountability and leadership, but stressed the need for concrete actions on the experiences of women and girls seeking safety and justice.

She expressed concern about recent actions taken by the Government, including the draft Public Order Act (to be enacted by increasing the areas of police powers, seeking to increase the number of police officers) and was considered a threat to human rights, stressing that suitable candidates must be recruited and retained, and that the powers of the police and their personnel could not be increased and the institution was entirely accountable.