Her comments come amid growing demands to improve the investigation and prosecution of all sex crimes following the murder, rape and kidnap of Sarah Everard by PC Wayne Couzens, an officer with a history of flashing and misogyny.

The Government is considering whether to make street harassment a new offence in order to force police to take it more seriously and record it as a crime.

Indecent exposure, which is a recorded crime, is massively under-reported, according to official data. Some 10,709 cases were reported in 2019 but just 735 (seven per cent) resulted in a prosecution. However, the Official for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that 147,000 individuals were victims of it.

Police have been urged to take indecent exposure offences more seriously.

Dame Vera said violence against women should be put on a par with terrorism, county lines drug-dealing and child sexual exploitation by including it in the Government’s national strategic policing requirements (SPR).

“It puts responsibility on the Government for ensuring that sufficient capabilities are in place to respond to the serious threats named in it,” said Dame Vera. “Terrorism, county lines and child sexual exploitation are all in the SPR.

“Only by national leadership and better resourcing can we even start to ensure that whatever practice it is that puts Durham police in the lead is learnt from and transferred to other forces which are totally failing potentially seriously traumatised victims who go to them for help.”

Wiltshire police said it had been “working hard” to improve outcomes, with the level of rapes resulting in a charge rising to 4.1 per cent in October 2021.

It had set up a tri-force action plan, working closely with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and recruited extra specialist staff to support victims.

“We are seeing more cases referred to CPS more quickly. We are also increasing the number of perpetrators being charged and prosecuted,” said a spokesman.

Earlier this year, Home Office figures showed record numbers of victims of crime, including rape, were withdrawing from prosecutions because of court delays and falling conviction rates.