Women’s Aid responds to the Victims’ and Courts Bill receiving Royal Assent

 

Veronica Oakeshott, Head of External Affairs at Women’s Aid, comments:  

“Women’s Aid welcomes the Victim’s and Courts Bill receiving Royal Assent. This legislation makes some important changes that survivors of domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) have long called for.   

“We know from our work with survivors that many women and children have been let down by the complex criminal justice system which, for too long, has failed to recognise and prioritise their needs. This is especially the case for marginalised survivors, who face significant barriers to seeking justice and further prejudice in the systems intended to bring them justice. The failures have been so extensive and the lack of understanding of the complexities are so profound, that less than 1 in 5 women feel able to report their experiences to the police.  

“The government has committed to halving violence against women and girls in the next decade and this Bill is promising significant improvements. We are pleased to see that victims and bereaved families will now have longer to challenge unduly lenient sentences, giving grieving families the opportunity to make decisions without undue pressure. We are also pleased to see that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) will no longer be exploited to cover up criminal conduct.  

“We also welcome new limitations to parental responsibility for perpetrators, though this needs to go further. Parents who perpetrate violence against women and children pose a clear and significant risk of harm to their children in multiple forms. It is a narrow and insufficient approach to treat child sexual offences as the only threshold for restricting parental responsibility. We are looking forward to new laws committed to by the Government in October that remove the presumption of support for parental contact where there is domestic abuse and the child does not want to see a parent, or it is unsafe for them to do so. We know from our years of research on child homicides, that without this change children will continue to die as a result of unsafe contact.  

“Improvements for survivors who are in the justice system or considering reporting to the police, are not just about legislation but also about the resourcing of high-quality specialist services. The specialist organisations that support victims through complex criminal proceedings continue to face a funding crisis. We urge the Government to prioritise work planned to reform commissioning practices, so specialist services receive the funding urgently needed.”