Several women who have been victims of obscene calls and indecent exposure by strangers have accused police of failing to properly investigate and dismiss their experiences. In one case, a business coach named Rebecca Amin opened her laptop to join a video call with a male client from India in October 2021, only to find that he was standing naked from the waist down. She reported the offence to the local police, but was disappointed with their reaction and felt violated. Subsequently, Rebecca posted about her experience on social media and was surprised when she discovered that five other women, who were also business coaches, had experienced the same thing with a man using the same profile. Rebecca also contacted the video call hosting platform to provide information about the man such as his device and geolocation, but despite providing the police with the named contacts for the other victims and the platform, Rebecca did not hear from them again, feeling as if they washed their hands of it.
Some victims of “non-contact sexual offences” say they have been left feeling violated by the police’s dismissive responses. They believed their cases were no less serious than if they had taken place in person. The victims contacted the BBC following an earlier report highlighting police failures when dealing with reports of malicious, sexualised phone calls. Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding, said any suggestion that police and prosecutors are not taking these crimes seriously is “not tolerable”. Police chiefs reflected the fact that not all victims receive the right outcomes when their cases are investigated, admitting that some forces have fallen short.
Violence against women and girls is a high priority for Dame Vera Baird, the former victims’ commissioner, who suggests that the police need to place more emphasis on this. “There is reinforcement to get rid of the dated notion that this is some kind of weird antisocial behaviour and a nuisance and just to look away,” she said. She reiterated that “non-contact sexual offences” are nonetheless pervasive and occur within one’s home. Lara Burns, for example, received an anonymous phone call while on holiday in Spain in October 2021 and felt threatened because the man at the other end was making obscene sexual noises and comments. Even though Lara was interviewed by a police constable, talked to another officer in greater detail, and was referred to Victim Support, she never heard from Hertfordshire Police again. Instead, she felt violated and unsafe, so she reported the calls to the police.
Sally Marsden, a lawyer, describes how police failed to respond to her report when a workman allegedly indecently exposed himself to her elderly mother, who has dementia, while visiting her home in Lancashire. Despite being helpful and proactive, the officer assigned to the case failed to carry out a video interview with Barbara Marsden until four months later, by which time her mother was unable to recall the details. Sally had to research the suspect’s address and convince prosecutors not to drop the case, which took more than three years to come to trial. She was concerned that the man’s crimes might have escalated and there was no recognition that those who committed indecent exposure were more likely to do bigger things. Lancashire Police revealed that they received a report of indecent exposure in 2020 and launched an investigation, although the man in question was acquitted after a trial. Later, he was convicted of making indecent images of children in a separate case.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council is currently working to improve the investigation and prosecution of non-contact sexual offences. They acknowledge there are cases in which the police response has been insufficient and the victims did not receive the desired outcome
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