DCS Paula Hilman, head of the PSNI’s public protection branch, told BBC News that it takes “significantly longer” for a case to go to court in Northern Ireland compared to England.

Ms Hilman added: “It means victims then withdraw from the criminal justice process … we need to reduce that delay. We need to focus on how we can reduce that and work closely with the public prosecution service.”

The PSNI’s public protection branch focuses on domestic abuse, child abuse, child sexual exploitation, sex and violent offender management, adult safeguarding, rape, child abuse imagery and e-safety.

Ms Hilman’s intervention comes just a month after Northern Ireland’s criminal justice watchdog warned that the justice system is “struggling” to deliver acceptable outcomes for victims of sexual violence and abuse.

Brendan McGuigan, the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland, said the police, prosecutors and courts were letting down victims of sexual violence by taking too long to handle complaints.

In some cases, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) took over a year to make a decision, which he said was “simply unacceptable”.