"Wouldn't "low conviction rates" suggest that a large number of men are being brought to trial improperly, when they are in fact not guilty?"
Well, maybe that might be true part of the time. Or even half the time. But it's hard to believe it's true 16 out of every 17 times a woman in England or Wales alleges she's been raped, as these numbers suggest. Why would not just some, but the vast majority of women alleging rape in those countries be doing so falsely?Other than a breathtakingly vicious nature on the part of the accusers, I have no idea.
Is it possible there are other factors involved?
What "other factors" did you have in mind?
Beats me. It does seem an extremely low conviction rate, though. Maybe British prosecutors are bad at handling such cases, or the court system doesn't take them seriously. Check out this URL, comparing conviction rates in the US and the UK. graph on the upper right.