Government’s rape adviser quits over ‘lack of will’ after 'losing faith' in UK justice system
7 October 2023, 15:02 | Updated: 7 October 2023, 19:27
The Ministry of Justice’s rape adviser has left her role as she says she’s lost 'faith' in the criminal justice system after her own experience.
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Emily Hunt, 44, the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) independent adviser to its rape review, has quit her role as she said she feels there is “no point” in reporting such crimes to the police.
Ms Hunt said she is planning to return to America because she does not feel safe in the UK.
She was appointed to the role of independent adviser to the rape review in 2021 after she reported being drugged and raped herself in 2015.
The review was launched with the goal of rectifying low charge and conviction rates of rape and to help improve the response to victims.
Her appointment to the role came after Christpher Killick, who filmed Ms Hunt naked in an east London hotel room in 2015, was handed a 30-month community order for voyeurism in 2020.
Killick was first arrested on suspicion of rape but the case was dropped after the CPS concluded there was insufficient evidence. He denied rape.
After Killick’s sentencing, Ms Hunt said it left her feeling there was “no point to ever reporting anything to the police again”.
“That's how I felt then and how I feel now, maybe it'll change in the future," she said.
“But I just didn't feel like there was a point in reporting a crime to the police. And I do still have this person out there, my attacker who's previously harassed me online after everything else.
“I don't feel safe in a place where if something happens to me, my first thought is, well, the police won't do anything about it.
“I want to be able to think that if something were to happen to me or a member of my family that I would have faith in the criminal justice system, that I could call the police and make a police report and feel like I was going to be okay.
“And that's the thing. For me, when I look back on all of this, particularly on that night, when the police arrived I instantly felt safe. I want that back,” she told MailOnline.
Ms Hunt also said her discomfort in the role had grown over the last 18 months, but she decided to stick it out in the hope things would improve.
However, speaking to the outlet, she claimed that she continued to feel like a “rubber stamp” and that her ideas were always being ignored.
“I can't keep feeling like I'm being used as a rubber stamp, to say: ‘We've consulted with Emily - tick. We haven't listened to her. We haven't done anything with her. We've asked what her ideas are and ignored them.’ And that's very much what it has felt like for quite a while now.”
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Earlier this year Killick was handed a suspended jail sentence of 14 months for two years after he broke a restraining order against him.
Ms Hunt said she was living in constant fear at the time, afraid he would show up at her home at any given moment.
“I fundamentally believe that when you report a crime to the police, you're expecting there to be a criminal justice outcome,” Ms Hunt added.
“People don't report rape to the police to be heard or to get it off their chest. It's because they are taking a super brave step, putting themselves out there to help make sure that a dangerous criminal can go to jail.
“And we're not doing that. In my case, the sentencing was for breach of restraining order. My attacker got a suspended sentence for breaching a restraining order after breaching bail, after breaching, blah, blah, blah, it's just all more court orders.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said of Ms Hunt's resignation: “We thank Emily Hunt for her valuable work over the last two years, supporting the Government in exceeding all three ambitions of our Rape Review ahead of schedule.
“We remain determined to stamp out these appalling crimes, making sure the criminal justice system supports victims and holds perpetrators to account.”
