Submitted on Monday 29th April 2019
Rejected on Monday 13th May 2019
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: no-action (see below for details)
Stop asking rape victims to hand their phones to police when reporting
The digital consent form asks victims of rape and sexual assault to give police access to their digital information, including emails, messages and photos on all devices. Victims are warned that failure to consent can put a stop to the investigation.
Victims should not be treated as suspects.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48086244
https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/about-sexual-violence/statistics-sexual-violence/
You can't sign this petition because it was rejected. But you can still comment on it here at Repetition.me!
The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:
Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.
There is no new power or policy that requires rape victims to hand over their mobile phones, so we're not sure what action you'd like the UK Government or Parliament to take.
The Crown Prosecution Service, which prosecutes criminal cases, has issued new digital consent forms. The CPS has said:
"It is not true that complainants in rape cases must automatically hand over personal data on their digital devices or run the risk of the prosecution being dropped. Mobile phone data, or social media activity, will only be considered by the police when relevant to an individual case."
You can read more here:
www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/handing-over-mobile-phone-data-rape-prosecutions
In any case, how the police investigate a crime is a decision for the police, not the UK Parliament and Government.
You could start a new petition about something the UK Parliament and Government are responsible for. For example, you could start a new petition asking the police to require a court order before accessing a complainant's mobile phone.
3.137.171.121 Fri, 26 Apr 2024 18:47:02 +0100
