Sexual Offences: Females

(asked on 11th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of rolling out the Sexual Violence Complainants' Advocate Scheme, piloted in Northumbria under the Home Office Violence Against Women & Girls Service Transformation Fund.


Answered by
Alex Chalk Portrait
Alex Chalk
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
This question was answered on 16th December 2020

The Government wants to ensure that victims of sexual offences are treated with dignity and respect throughout the criminal justice process.

We are aware of the Sexual Violence Complainants’ Advocate Scheme in Northumbria and are considering the evaluation of this pilot as part of the Criminal Justice Board’s end-to-end review of the criminal justice response to rape and serious sexual offences.

The Government will publish its initial findings and recommendations for action in due course. We are committed to continuing work with partners from across the criminal justice system after that to improve the system in the longer term.

The recently revised Victims’ Code, which comes into force on 1 April 2021, will also ensure that victims benefit from a clearer set of rights and that these rights are recognised at every stage of the justice system. The revised Victims’ Code provides a solid foundation on which we can progress the Victims’ Law. We aim to consult on the detail of the Victims’ Law next year.

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