From the report to the sentence. Attrition in criminal proceedings for rape crimes in Spain

Abstract

This paper aims to address the attrition rate of criminal proceedings for rape offenses in Spain. The methodology combines the analysis of primary and secondary data. Official published data on sexual offenses and the results of a broader research consisting of quantitative and qualitative analysis of sentences handed down for rape offenses in Spain in the period between 2000 and 2019 are examined. The conviction rate is 3.36%, a percentage that indicates an attrition rate of 96.64%. It is remarkable The high frequency of convictions and the low proportion of trials that go beyond the pretrial phase. From 2000 to 2019, 84.80% (n=358) of convictions have been recorded. However, from 2011 to 2021, only 3.98% of the complaints for rape crimes went beyond the investigation phase.