Sexual violence against women in public spaces has become one of the most politically charged and socially revealing issues in contemporary Britain. While governments often respond with promises of tougher policing and harsher sentencing, recent evidence suggests that the core problem lies not in a lack of laws, but in systemic failures within policing itself.
A major inquiry published in 2024 found that over a quarter of police forces in England and Wales have failed to implement even basic policies for investigating sexual offences. From a sociological perspective, this raises serious questions about institutional accountability, gendered power, and the limits of the criminal justice system in protecting women.
The fact that the police are seemingly failing to protect women supports Radical Feminist Views of power and control in relationships.
The Angiolini Inquiry into Sexual Crimes
The inquiry was led by Elish Angiolini and was commissioned following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer. Its focus was the prevention of sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces, as well as the police response to such offences.
The findings were deeply critical. The inquiry revealed that:
- More than 25% of police forces had not implemented basic investigative policies for sexual offences
- There were major gaps in national data collection, making it difficult to identify patterns of offending or police failure
- Existing recommendations aimed at improving police practice had been ignored or delayed
Notably, Angiolini confirmed that recommendations made in the first part of her report, published in February 2024, had still not been acted upon months later.
Policing Sexual Violence: A Sociological Problem
From a sociological perspective, these findings support long-standing feminist critiques of policing. Feminist criminologists argue that sexual violence has historically been under-policed, trivialised, or treated as a private matter, rather than a serious public crime.
Key issues highlighted by the inquiry include:
- Inconsistent investigative standards across police forces
- A lack of specialist training in sexual offence cases
- Organisational cultures that deprioritise crimes primarily affecting women
This suggests that the problem is not individual incompetence, but institutional failure — a concept central to sociological analysis of crime and justice.
Institutional Failure and Crimes of the Powerful
The inquiry also illustrates how institutions can fail victims while protecting themselves. Despite repeated reviews and public pressure following high-profile cases, meaningful reform has been slow.
Sociologists describe this as a form of institutional self-protection, where organisations prioritise reputation, stability, and control over justice or transparency. This links to the sociology of crimes of the powerful, where harm caused by institutions is often normalised or obscured.
In this case, the failure to implement recommendations does not involve dramatic law-breaking, but it nevertheless results in systemic harm, leaving women vulnerable and undermining trust in the police.
The “Good Samaritan Law” Proposal
One of the inquiry’s most controversial recommendations was that ministers consider introducing a “Good Samaritan law”, which would place a legal duty on bystanders to intervene or seek help when witnessing sexual violence or serious harm.
From a sociological viewpoint, this raises important questions:
- Does shifting responsibility to bystanders divert attention from institutional failure?
- Could such laws disproportionately criminalise marginalised groups?
- Does this represent a move towards responsibilisation, where individuals are expected to manage risks created by systemic problems?
While framed as a protective measure, critics argue that such policies risk individualising responsibility for structural failings in policing and public safety.
Gender, Power, and Public Space
The inquiry reinforces the idea that public space is gendered. Women experience public environments differently due to the threat — and reality — of sexual violence. Sociologists argue that this shapes behaviour, mobility, and everyday decision-making.
Despite political rhetoric about safety, the continued failure to reform police responses suggests that violence against women is still not treated as a central social priority. This supports feminist claims that patriarchal values remain embedded within key state institutions.
Why This Matters for Sociology Students
This case is highly valuable for sociology because it can be used to illustrate:
- Feminist theories of crime
- Institutional failure and accountability
- Crimes of the powerful
- Limits of policing as social control
- The relationship between the state and gendered violence
- This is primarily relevant to the Crime and Deviance A level sociology module.
It also provides a contemporary example of how policy failure, organisational culture, and power relations shape outcomes in the criminal justice system.
Conclusion
The 2024 inquiry into sexual offences policing exposes a deeply troubling reality: despite public outrage, inquiries, and political promises, systemic failures persist. From a sociological perspective, this demonstrates that sexual violence is not merely a problem of individual offending, but one of institutional neglect and structural inequality.
As long as policing organisations fail to implement basic investigative standards, women’s safety in public space will remain compromised — regardless of how many new laws are proposed.