‘Women’s access to justice – From reporting to sentencing’ report now out.

Women’s Aid, together with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Domestic and Sexual Violence,  a cross-party group of MPs and peers working to combat domestic and sexual violence, highlight arising issues and contribute to the development of policies, recently published a report titled ‘Women’s Access to Justice: from reporting to sentencing’.

The report aims to highlight key issues related to access to justice for women survivors of domestic and sexual violence in the United Kingdom, and to provide recommendations for change.

Methodology involved an online questionnaire; a call for written evidence was launched by the APPG in October 2013.

It asked respondents about their experiences, or their service users’ experience, with police and the criminal justice agencies – from reporting to sentencing.

The report is based on the results of 90 questionnaires from a cross section of specialist organisations and individuals and nearly 50 survivors of domestic violence.

They included the Minister of State for Crime Prevention Norman Baker MP, Dan Jarvis MP, Shadow Minister for Victims, numerous specialist domestic violence services, Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs), representatives from various police forces, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The publication includes a chapter on survivors’ experiences with the police, including information on ‘survivor and professional experience with police action in domestic violence cases’, ‘police response and investigation’, ‘risk assessments’ and ‘evidence handling’, among others.

A ‘Survivor’s Charter’ is included at the end of the publication.

That explains exactly what women in the UK should expect from the justice system as a very minimum, and that if anyone feels that their experience does not reflect these principles then they can complain, as their right to justice is not being met.

You can find out more about the report and its content from the Women’s Aid website.

To read the 64-page report, click here.

To read the Survivor’s Charter, click here.

Please share the Charter and sign it.