When it comes to putting rapists behind bars, Bristol's record is depressing, to say the least.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary was blasted last year for one of the lowest rape conviction rates in the country, and recent statistics for Bristol show only a minuscule improvement.

The rape conviction rates for 2006 (the latest detailed figures available) were obtained by national equality body the Fawcett Society after a Freedom of Information request.

They showed rape conviction rates had fallen in 18 out of 24 police forces, to an average of 6.1 per cent across England and Wales. But the figure for Avon and Somerset was just 4.2 per cent.

More recent statistics for Bristol alone show the situation is barely any better. Just under 700 sexual offences were reported in Bristol in 2006/7, according to figures presented to the Safer Bristol Partnership's rape and sexual assault strategic group.

But only 16 per cent of rape cases in Bristol ever make it to court and, of these, only five per cent are likely to result in conviction.

The figures are dismal enough on their own, but they're even worse when you consider that studies show at least 80 per cent of rapes go unreported.

That could mean the true figure for rapes in Bristol may be close to 3,500 a year – which in turn means thousands of perpetrators going unpunished and thousands of victims suffering in silence.

Nationwide the figures are even more grim. The Home Office estimates that at least 80,000 women are raped in the UK each year, amounting to one every 6.5 minutes.

So poor is the situation, and so patchy services to rape victims, that the Fawcett Society says it amounts to "a licence to rape".

In Bristol, women recently staged a Reclaim The Night march, organised by the Bristol Feminist Network. The march was partly prompted by assaults in Clifton, but campaigner Katy Ladbrook says the problem is far wider than that.

"Violence against women is happening everywhere all the time and in ways that are not only physical but much more subtle and pervasive," she says.

"The standard response to the problem, which asks women to stay inside when night falls, simply isn't good enough."

But could things be about to change in Bristol?

Not only has the city's first sexual assault referral centre, The Bridge, opened a few weeks ago, but after years of campaigning a new rape crisis centre will launch in Bristol this summer.

Bristol had a rape crisis centre several years ago, but it closed due to funding problems.

But there's now a groundswell of opinion that sexual violence needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency, says Elaine Hutton, one of the centre organisers.

"In the early 1980s, the rape conviction rate was around 25 per cent," says the 62-year-old. "Now it hovers at around five, six per cent, and in Bristol it's even worse. We thought it was low then – I was involved in one of the first rape crisis centres in the 1970s – but it's plummeted since then."

Bristol City Council has been very supportive of the new rape crisis centre, providing funding of £75,000 a year for three years.

"Women have already started approaching the centre for help.

"It just shows how badly the service is needed."

The Bridge referral centre is a one-stop location where victims can get quick and sympathetic medical care, counselling and support as well as police services under one roof.

It's seen as a major part of Bristol's new strategy for tackling rape, according to Detective Inspector Steve Jeffries of Avon and Somerset Constabulary.

He's a member of the Safer Bristol Partnership's rape and sexual assault strategic group, which has just drawn up a three-year plan to tackle sexual violence, which it describes as "one of the most serious and damaging crimes in our society".

"Our rape strategy is mainly victim-focused," says Mr Jeffries. "There's been a lot of work done around victim care, which is key, and The Bridge is very, very important in providing a victim with access to the right support and counselling."

Although The Bridge is likely to result in more rapes being reported, that doesn't mean more attackers will be jailed. Victims may prefer to report their assault anonymously. But Mr Jeffries says there are advantages to this.

"We won't know the victim, but we will know where the rape has occurred, whether it's someone the victim knows, where the hot spots are," he said. "This is valuable data which will help us focus our strategy better. We're looking to build a profile of hot spots, of who is at risk and what our victim age group is.

"Ultimately our objective is to take perpetrators off the streets so they can't harm any more victims."

For an example of what can be done, Avon and Somerset only needs look over the border to neighbouring force Gloucestershire, which dramatically improved its rape conviction rate from 0.89 per cent in 2004 to 7.4 per cent in 2006. It overhauled its strategy to concentrate on collecting better evidence early on and supporting victims. Bristol police hope The Bridge will provide a similar level of support resulting in fewer women dropping their case.

That support is vital. As a 2007 report by the police and Crown Prosecution Service inspectorates commented: "In no other crime is the victim subject to so much scrutiny during an investigation or at trial, nor is the potential for victims to be re-traumatised during these processes as high."

No adequate figure can be put on the trauma of rape, but there is a financial cost in helping victims.

Problems arising from rape include unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and panic attacks. Worse still, some women are so devastated they attempt suicide.

The Government has assessed this financial cost at £8.5 billion in total, or £76,000 per rape.

This could mean the true cost of rape and sexual assault to services in Bristol in 2006/7 was more than £26 million, according to the Safer Bristol Partnership.