Since the mid-1970s there has been a number of significant legislative changes designed to control male violence, enacted largely in response to pressure from feminist campaigners. Policing Sexual Assault examines the gap between the rhetoric of these reforms and their implementation in practice; between the official condemnation of male violence as enshrined in the law and the realities of victims' (male and female) experiences whereby the violence is too often condoned. Police response to and treatment of victims of sexual assault has altered radically since the early 1980s, with the numbers of rape convictions dropping as cases reported have risen.

Through an examination of police recording and crime classification practices and drawing on interviews with women who have reported sexual assault, police and prosecution service, this book provides a detailed account of current police practice within the context of a wider evaluation of theoretical debate with the areas of domestic and sexual violence.