Sexual Offences: Victim Support Schemes
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help improve the experiences of rape and sexual assault victims in the criminal justice system.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones
The Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the next decade. Ministers from a wide range of relevant Government departments regularly meet to ensure we are using all available levers to achieve this, and we will publish our cross-government strategy this summer.
We are already taking action to improve the experiences of victims of domestic and sexual abuse by:
- Launching Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) in selected areas to provide more protection for victims;
- Introducing specialist rape and sexual offence teams in every police force, and domestic abuse experts in 999 rooms;
- Introducing free Independent Legal Advisers for victims of adult rape, so that victims better understand their legal rights; and
- Ensuring every CPS area has at least one dedicated Victim Liaison Officer in its RASSO unit, to improve victim communications.
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