Sadiq Khan promises to make victims of sexual assault a priority if he’s elected as Mayor

Sadiq Khan has said that if he is elected as Mayor, he would make the police’s response to sexual assault a priority in his first year in office.

Khan, who’s one of eight people standing to be Labour’s candidate in the London Mayoral race, has explained that he would ensure there is “more specialist, trained officers, and more support for victims so they feel able to come forward.” He said that if he becomes Mayor he will make it his business “to ensure that no woman who has been the victim of sexual violence feels abandoned.”

He noted that he agreed with Met Commissioner’s comments that rape and sexual assault should be put on the same level of priority as counter-terrorism.

The MP for Tooting, who was formerly Shadow Justice Minister, said that he came to this conclusion after reading Dame Elish Angiolini’s report on the investigation and prosecution of rape in London. This report found that in the last ten years the number of women raped in London has increased by 68%, while the number of prosecutions has only risen by 17%.

He also said that reading this report reminded him of “the inquiry and report into the systematic failures of the police and prosecutors into the murder of Stephen Lawrence.”  Khan argued that that one of the few positives that came out of this case was how the report into Stephen Lawrence’s death led to a “complete overhaul of how murders were investigated”,  and that consequently police and prosecutors must take on board Dame Elish’s report in a similar way.

There are eight people standing to be Labour’s candidate for London Mayor.