Police in England and Wales are being urged to be more proactive in their efforts to prevent rapes.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said forces have been too "reactive" up until now.
He wants police to focus on people who are vulnerable to abuse and institutions where intelligence suggests abuse is taking place.
His comments come at the start of a week-long campaign to encourage rape victims to come forward.
Mr Hewitt, the Association of Chief Police Officers' (Acpo) lead for adult sexual offences, said debate on the issue "is far too often restricted to investigation and prosecution" and called for a "challenging debate about prevention as well".
"Most rape involves the coming together of some form of power and some type of vulnerability; either permanent or temporary," he said.
"We need to be utilising all our powers and tactics to understand how this happens, to mitigate the vulnerability and reduce the opportunities for that power to be abused."
'Putting people off'Mr Hewitt said the rape conviction rate was at an "all-time high" and victims must have the "confidence" to come forward.
"Start Quote
End Quote Jordan Hart Rape victimReporting to the police gave me peace of mind, knowing I hadn't been beaten by him"
But he said victims should be made aware that more than a third of rape prosecutions did not end in a conviction.
"We need to be honest about the challenges that are faced in investigating and prosecuting rape," he said.
In 2012-13, 3,692 rape prosecutions were brought in England and Wales and 63.2% of these resulted in convictions, Acpo said.
Mr Hewitt said the conviction rate could "put people off reporting" but he encouraged victims to come forward.
"It triggers a full investigation into the offence, but also means that victims are able to access medical treatment and support services to help them cope with the experience," he said.
Police do "everything they can" to support victims and ensure "justice is done", he added.
Five-year lowIn the six months from October last year, reports of sex offences were up 9% on the same period a year before.
This rise came after the broadcast of an ITV documentary revealing the sex offences committed by the late TV presenter Jimmy Savile, who has since been described by police as a "prolific, predatory sex offender".
But last month it emerged that the number of rape allegations handed to prosecutors in England and Wales had hit a five-year low - despite a 30% increase in the number of rapes reported to police.
Police sent 5,404 rape cases to the Crown Prosecution Service in 2012/13 out of more than 17,000 reports, figures suggested.
Jordan Hart, 18, a rape victim whose attacker was jailed for 11 years, has waived her legal right to anonymity to support the campaign and encourage more victims to come forward.
"Start Quote
End Quote Lisa Longstaff Women Against RapeToo many of the cases are closed, people are being given cautions or they're just saying no further action"
"Reporting to the police gave me peace of mind, knowing I hadn't been beaten by him," she said.
She said a specialist officer gave her advice and guidance, adding: "I didn't do anything alone."
Javed Khan, chief executive of Victim Support, said victims needed to know they would be taken seriously and treated sensitively.
"It takes a great deal of courage for victims to come forward but their confidence to do so is vital in bringing perpetrators to justice," he said.
Lisa Longstaff, from the campaign group Women Against Rape, said the more important issue was the number of convictions for rape.
"The real problem that women have, that they bring to us every day, is that they go to the police and report and the person is investigated and yet nothing's done.
"And even worse than that, too many of the cases are closed, people are being given cautions or they're just saying no further action. We just don't feel that this is a proper opening of such a debate."
Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said it was vital that victims felt confident that if they reported rape or sexual offending their case would be dealt with "thoroughly and sensitively".
She said that was why the Crown Prosecution Service had rolled out specialist units dedicated to handling these cases across the country.
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