Every year, one in five people in our country will become the victim of a crime. However, too many victims feel that the system does not deliver justice for them. TheVictims’ Code entitles victims “to be treated with respect, dignity, sensitivity, compassion and courtesy. However, this is not always the case. The Government wants to improve the service and support that victims receive – from the moment a crime is committed right the way through to their experience in the courtroom. The Ministry of Justice therefore conducted a public consultation to inform its newVictim’s Law- a Bill that will build on the foundations provided by the Victims’ Code to substantially improve victims’ experiences of the criminal justice system.

Muslim Women’s Network UK responded to this consultation (deadline 3 Feb 2022).  Some of the concerns included:

• Poor communication with victims and lack of support resulting in victims dropping cases and not getting justice
• Victims of sexual abuse receiving poor service including arbitrarily not taken to prosecution
• Lack of awareness of the victim's code and the victim's compensation scheme
• Not understanding how honour based abuse intersects with other issues such as revenge porn and how risk is measured
• Lack of awareness of specialist local BAME organisations by police forces and Police Crime Commissioners wasting resources on tick box projects
• Police not arresting perpetrators when they breached orders thus putting victim's safety at risk