Content note: the following article contains references to sexual assault and suicide that readers might find upsetting. 

New research has revealed that more must be done to safeguard victims and survivors of sexual violence in the UK justice system.

Victim Support’s Suffering For Justice report details how victims and survivors are being let down when they report their abuse and during and after their cases go to trial. The report’s key findings found that “the overall experience of victim-survivors of sexual violence was negative before, during and after their case went to trial” citing long wait times for trails, an absence of updates and limited explanations about sentencing on the part of the UK criminal justice system. It also detailed the effects this is having on the mental health of survivors, including “an adverse impact on victim-survivors’ mental wellbeing, education and work, and on the people around them”, detailing that “many” survivors became retraumatised during the court process and “some were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), had suicidal thoughts and/or tried to take their own lives”. 

While victims had an overall negative experience while navigating the legal system after the violence they had reported, they did say that the support provided by sexual violence support workers through the criminal justice process was “highly valued”. This was due to sexual violence support workers helping victims cope with the impact of giving evidence, explaining court systems and keeping them engaged with the justice system.

In response to the report, Katie Kempen, chief executive officer at Victim Support, said the research “paints a picture of a broken system”. The report goes on to suggest five key recommendations to improve the experiences of the victims and survivors of sexual violence, including criminal justice agencies listening to victim-survivors’ individual needs, reducing court delays and adjournments, tackling myths and misconceptions about sexual violence, improving services for victims to keep up to date with the trials, verdicts and sentencings and giving every victim access to a sexual violence support worker.

Reacting to the report, its findings and its recommendations, The victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, Baroness Newlove, said: “I welcome this report and its calls for urgent reform: long waits, poor communication, as well as inconsistent access to support and special measures must all be addressed if we are to genuinely improve the victim experience.

“The report raises serious questions about the treatment of, and support offered to, victims recovering from sexual violence – and sadly mirrors what victims often tell me. Whilst not surprising, it is deeply worrying to hear how navigating the court process – a system in place to deliver justice – instead left many feeling re-traumatised and distressed.”

Speaking of trial times and the impact on victims, Newlove added: “The average adult rape case now takes 393 days to get to trial once it has reached court. Behind that number are countless victims with their lives ‘on hold’, trying to cope and recover from a life-altering – and often life-shattering – ordeal. We owe it to them to do better.”

The 24/7 Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Line can be reached for free by calling 0808 500 2222 or visiting the Rape Crisis England & Wales website. If you need emergency help, call 999.

Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org.

Images: Getty