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Tackling sexual violence - giving victims more support

HOME OFFICE News Release (069/2007) issued by The Government News Network on 2 April 2007

The Government today outlined how it will further support for victims of sexual violence through better support facilities and improving the response from the justice system to such crimes.

Today's publication - the Cross Government Action Plan on Sexual Violence and Abuse - is underlined by an immediate cash boost of £2million for support services for victims of sexual abuse. This is an addition to the £1million already announced to increase the Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) network.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said:

"The Government has a crucial role in protecting those at risk of sexual violence and child sexual abuse, looking after the victims of these terrible and damaging crimes and of course dealing with those who commit them. This plan co-ordinates everything we are doing across Government to ensure that victims get the support they need and the justice they deserve.

"These actions are part of the Government's work to rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of the law abiding majority so that victims and the wider community do not have to live in fear. I am pleased that my colleagues across Government have worked together to tackle all aspects of sexual violence in a strategic and forward looking way."

The robust measures set out in the plan will:

* increase access to support and health services for victims of sexual violence and childhood sexual abuse;
* improve the criminal justice response to sexual violence and childhood sexual abuse; and
* prevent sexual violence and childhood sexual abuse from occurring wherever possible

Sexual violence and childhood sexual abuse cause great and often lasting damage to the victims of these crimes:

* According to NSPCC research, around 21% of girls and 11% of boys experience some form of childhood sexual abuse;
* The British Crime Survey 2005-06 shows that 23% of women and 3% of men experience sexual assault as an adult.
* the most vulnerable in society are disproportionately affected, such as children and people with a disability;
* victims often suffer severe and long lasting harm, including physical injury, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy, post-traumatic stress disorder and even suicide; and
* these crimes impart a significant financial cost to society.

Dr. Nicole Westmarland, Chair of Rape Crisis (England and Wales), said:

"We are pleased that there is going to be more support for survivors of rape and other sexual offences and that Government is taking a more joined up approach to tackling these crimes. Every day we receive hundreds of calls to our Rape Crisis centres up and down the country and we are glad that the Action Plan deals with access to support but also emphases the need for effective prosecution and prevention."

Fay Maxted, National Co-ordinator of the Survivors Trust, said:

"The Survivors Trust has welcomed the opportunity to work with central government to develop an Action Plan that will ensure that the needs of victims and survivors of sexual violence and abuse are responded to in the most appropriate and timely matter."

Key points we will be taking forward from the action plan include:

* expanding the network of Sexual Assault Referral Centres which provide medical care, forensic examination and counselling in the aftermath of a sexual assault;
* through the Victims of Violence and Abuse Prevention Programme, developing national service guidelines on responding to the needs of child victims of sexual abuse, adult survivors of child sexual abuse and adult victims of recent sexual violence;
* national rollout of sexual offences training for police officers and all barristers prosecuting in serious sexual offence cases;
* implementing a new vetting and barring scheme to make sure all those who work with children are safe to do so; and
* management of sex offenders through Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements and implementing new strategies for treating offenders

The Solicitor General, Mike O'Brien, said:

"This action plan gives us a unified approach to tackling sexual violence. It includes measures to strengthen the role of specialist prosecutors and ensure all barristers prosecuting serious sexual crime in court have specifically designed, specialist training. We need the whole system to respond to the needs of victims and deliver convictions of the guilty."

Deputy Minister for Women and Equality Meg Munn said:

"This action plan provides the basis for change: change in attitudes and an improvement in our response to victims. With new funding for health and support services we have a real opportunity to increase the confidence of victims in the criminal justice and to help them get on with their lives."

Notes to Editors

1. The Action Plan is the work of six Government Departments; the Home Office, Department of Health, Department for Constitutional Affairs, Crown Prosecution Service, Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Communities and Local Government.

2. The Government has allocated a further £2 million funding for victims in addition to £1 million extra already earmarked for Sexual Assault Referral Centres. £1.25 million of this will come from the Victims Fund, paid for by the Victims Surcharge from offenders. Last year the Government announced a £3 million package to provide targeted professional support to victims of sexual violent crime.

3. There are 38 Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) in England and Wales. These are professionally trained specialists working alongside victims from the point of crisis throughout the legal process and beyond. They are based within Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs), one-stop facilities where victims of sexual assault receive medical care and counselling whilst progressing their cases with the police. The numbers of SARCs will be increasing from 5 centres in 2003 to a proposed 40 by the end of 2008

4. As part of Domestic Violence Month in March 2007, the Home Secretary announced a doubling in the numbers of multi-agency risk assessment conferences across England and Wales, regular forums where all the key criminal justice agencies work together to develop plans and exchange information in order to better protect domestic violence victims and their families.

5. NSPCC published the report Child maltreatment in the United Kingdom: a study of the prevalence of child childhood sexual abuse and neglect in 2000. The British Crime Survey Crime in England and Wales 2005-06 report was published in 2006.