Victim Support responds to Victims' Commissioner's speech
Published: 20 July 2010 | by: Lucy Hunter
- Date:
- 20 July 2010
Today we echoed remarks made by the Victims’ Commissioner, Louise Casey about the need to rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of victims, but warned against cutting back support for victims of perceived low level crime.
Commenting, Owen Sharp our interim Chief Executive, said: “The Commissioner is right to call for the criminal justice system to be rebalanced in favour of victims. But cutting back the support for victims of perceived ‘low level’ crime would be the wrong thing to do.
“We offer help to 1.5 million people who are affected by crime every year and crime of any type can have a significant impact on people’s lives even if it is a one off event. For example, having somebody break into your home or rob you on the street can lead to a loss in confidence and have a long term impact.
“Our experience shows that perceived ‘low level’ crime can also be a symptom of an ongoing campaign of anti-social behaviour or hate crime which can have a very damaging impact on people’s lives.
“This is why we individually assess the needs of all victims when they are referred to us to ensure they get a tailored package of help and support and why we continue to improve the services we offer. Just one penny in every pound of criminal justice funding goes towards supporting victims of crime, underlining the need for Ken Clark to rebalance the justice system in favour of all victims of crime.”