Sexual Offences: Victims

(asked on 13th May 2019) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what protections exist for victims of historical sexual abuse where the perpetrator remains living in the victim's locality.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 16th May 2019

Protection orders are an important tool for keeping victims safe and preventing the continuation or escalation of violence.

Protections for victims of sexual offences, including historic abuse include:

  • Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements, which are in place to ensure the successful management of violent and sexual offenders in the community.
  • Sexual Harm Prevention Orders, which can be used to impose a range of restrictions on sexual offenders, including travel restrictions.
  • Sexual Risk Orders, which can be used to impose restrictions on individuals who have done an act of a sexual nature and, as a result, pose a risk of harm to the public in the UK or children or vulnerable adults abroad. For a Sexual Risk Order to be imposed, the individual does not need to have committed an offence.
  • Sex Offender Notification Requirements, which require offenders to provide certain information to the police, for example notifying them if the offender is living in a household with a person under the age of 18.

Additionally, the Victim Contact Scheme is available to victims of violent and sexual offences where the offender receives a sentence of 12 months or more. The scheme provides victims with information and advice about the criminal justice process – including being kept informed of key stages of the offender's sentence and to advise on victim-related conditions that can be attached to the offender's release licence. Conditions can be around non-contact or excluding the offender from entering specific locations such as areas where the victim lives or works. The offender risks being recalled to prison should they breach any licence conditions.

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