Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support victims of sexual assault.

This Government is deeply committed to supporting victims of sexual assault. To do so, we must improve the justice system’s response to these crimes. We must relentlessly target the most prolific and harmful perpetrators; better support victims and survivors; and ensure timely and effective justice.

To do this, the Government has committed to:

• Increasing the powers of the Victims’ Commissioner, ensuring that victims get the information that they need throughout their justice system journey.

• Introducing specialist rape and sexual offence teams in every police force, providing the capacity and capability our police forces need to respond to these offences.

• Introducing independent legal advocates to rape victims, ensuring that victims know and can uphold their rights.

• Fast tracking rape cases through the courts, driving down waiting times for victims of these abhorrent offences.