Victim Support

Last updated

Victim Support is an independent charity in England and Wales that provides specialist practical and emotional support to victims and witnesses of crime.

Contents

Activities

Support for victims of crime
Trained volunteers and employees offer free, independent, confidential and personalised support to victims and witnesses of crime and traumatic incidents. In 2017, the charity had contact with over 800,000 victims of crime across England and Wales to offer information and support. The charity offers a range of support around safety, information provision, validation of their thoughts and feelings, developing coping strategies for daily life and connecting the services users with support networks as well. Examples of support specifics can be: supporting people to make their home secure after a burglary, understanding their rights and entitlements within the Victim's Code of Practice, support with the Criminal Justice System, applying for compensation, help with re-housing or accessing mental health and other specialised services through the NHS.
Supportline
A free 24/7 telephone helpline offering confidential support and advice to anyone affected by crime in England and Wales - 08 08 16 89 111.
Specialist services
Research
Victim Support's research team look into the issues facing victims of crime and make recommendations, based on evidence, on how to tackle those problems to government. [2] police, criminal justice and other organisations.
Fundraising
The charity is funded by public donations along with funding awards made by grant-making bodies and services commissioned by Police and Crime Commissioners.
Volunteering
Volunteers are trained to work directly with victims and witnesses of crime or to be a fundraiser. [3] [4]

History

Victims' services
The first Victim Support scheme was set up in Bristol in 1974. The charity's founders included staff from the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (now NACRO), the police and probation services. By 1986, every county in England and Wales had at least one Victim Support scheme. Victim Support registered as a charitable company in 1987 and in 2008, all local services merged to create a single national federation in England and Wales.
Homicide Service
Since 1985, the charity has run the Homicide Service, supporting people bereaved by murder or manslaughter. [5]
Witness Service
The charity set up the national Witness Service in 1989 and supported its development to cover both all Crown Court centres and all the magistrates' courts in England and Wales. The Witness Service was run by Victim Support until April 2015.
Supportline
In 1998, Victim Support's free national telephone helpline for victims and witnesses was established. Since the 2017 Westminster attack and the other terrorist attacks that year, the Supportline has been provided 24/7.

Officials

Notable former officials

Research reports

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homicide</span> Killing of a human by another human

Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of a another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no intent to cause harm. It is separate from suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime statistics</span> Official statistics on criminal behavior

Crime statistics refer to systematic, quantitative results about crime, as opposed to crime news or anecdotes. Notably, crime statistics can be the result of two rather different processes:

A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, assault, rape and assassination, as well as crimes in which violence is used as a method of coercion or show of force, such as robbery, extortion and terrorism. Violent crimes may, or may not, be committed with weapons. Depending on the jurisdiction, violent crimes may be regarded with varying severities from homicide to harassment. There have been many theories regarding heat being the cause of an increase in violent crime. Theorists claim that violent crime is persistent during the summer due to the heat, further causing people to become aggressive and commit more violent crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vera Baird</span> British barrister and former Labour MP

Dame Vera Baird is a British barrister and politician who has held roles as a government minister, police and crime commissioner, and Victims' Commissioner for England and Wales.

Support Through Court is a UK legal charity that supports people who have to represent themselves in court. The aim is to "reduce the disadvantage of people facing the civil and family justice system without a lawyer, enabling them to access justice" and believe that "no one should face court alone".

Articles related to criminology and law enforcement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in Australia</span>

Crime in Australia is managed by various law enforcement bodies, the federal and state-based criminal justice systems and state-based correctional services.

The Howard League for Penal Reform is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. It was founded as the Howard Association in 1866 and changed its name in 1921, following a merger with the Penal Reform League. The charity focuses on penal reform in England and Wales.

Crime in the United Kingdom describes acts of violent crime and non-violent crime that take place within the United Kingdom. Courts and police systems are separated into three sections, based on the different judicial systems of England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

In English law, an appropriate adult is a parent, guardian or social worker; or if no person matching this is available, any responsible person over 18. The term was introduced as part of the policing reforms in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and applies in England and Wales.

Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in New Zealand</span>

Crime in New Zealand encompasses criminal law, crime statistics, the nature and characteristics of crime, sentencing, punishment, and public perceptions of crime. New Zealand criminal law has its origins in English criminal law, which was codified into statute by the New Zealand parliament in 1893. Although New Zealand remains a common law jurisdiction, all criminal offences and their penalties are codified in New Zealand statutes.

Crime statistics in the United Kingdom refers to the data collected in the United Kingdom, and that collected by the individual areas, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which operate separate judicial systems. It covers data related to crime in the United Kingdom. As with crime statistics elsewhere, they are broadly divided into victim studies and police statistics. More recently, third-party reporting is used to quantify specific under-reported issues, for example, hate crime.

Disability hate crime is a form of hate crime involving the use of violence against people with disabilities. This is not only violence in a physical sense, but also includes other hostile acts, such as the repeated blocking of disabled access and verbal abuse. These hate crimes are associated with prejudice against a disability, or a denial of equal rights for disabled people. It is viewed politically as an extreme form of ableism, or disablism. This phenomenon can take many forms, from verbal abuse and intimidatory behaviour to vandalism, assault, or even murder. Although data are limited studies appear to show that verbal abuse and harassment are the most common. Disability hate crimes may take the form of one-off incidents, or may represent systematic abuse which continues over periods of weeks, months, or even years. Disabled parking places, wheelchair access areas and other facilities are frequently a locus for disability hate. Instead of seeing access areas as essential for equity, they are seen instead as 'special treatment', unjustifiable by status, and so a 'reason' for acting aggressively. Denial of access thus demonstrates a prejudice against equal rights for disabled people; such actions risk actual bodily harm as well as limiting personal freedom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cruse Bereavement Care</span>

Cruse Bereavement Support and its counterpart Cruse Bereavement Care Scotland are the United Kingdom's largest bereavement charity, which provide bereavement support to people suffering from grief.

Victims' rights are legal rights afforded to victims of crime. These may include the right to restitution, the right to a victims' advocate, the right not to be excluded from criminal justice proceedings, and the right to speak at criminal justice proceedings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winston's Wish</span>

Winston's Wish is a childhood bereavement charity in the UK. The charity offers a wide range of practical support and guidance to bereaved children, their families and professionals. The charity currently supports 40,000 bereaved children and young people per year.

Domestic violence and abuse in the United Kingdom are a range of abusive behaviours that occur within relationships. Domestic violence or abuse can be physical, psychological, sexual, financial or emotional. In UK laws and legislation, the term "domestic abuse" is commonly used to encompass various forms of domestic violence. Some specific forms of domestic violence and abuse are criminal offences. Victims or those at risk of domestic abuse can also be provided with remedies and protection via civil law.

Victim Assist Queensland (VAQ) is an agency of the Queensland Government Department of Justice and Attorney-General that provides information, advice and financial assistance to victims of violent crime and domestic violence throughout the State of Queensland. VAQ also overseas the implementation of and complaints under the Queensland Charter of Victims' Rights, provides court support, and coordinates interagency referrals including with the Queensland Police Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galop (charity)</span> UK LGBT anti-abuse charity

Galop is an LGBT anti-abuse charity and police monitoring group in the United Kingdom that campaigns against domestic abuse, conversion therapy, sexual violence, hate crime, and other forms of discrimination against LGBT people. It runs four national helplines for LGBT survivors of rape and sexual abuse, conversion therapy, domestic abuse and hate crime, and supports LGBT people who have problems with the police or questions about the UK criminal justice system.

References

  1. "Who can child abuse victims turn to?". Bbc.co.uk. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  2. "Chris Grayling unveils victims' rights reforms". Theguardian.com. Press Association. 14 September 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  3. "Being a volunteer | Victim Support". Archived from the original on 2015-05-04. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  4. Fyffe, Marie (11 April 2014). "A day in the life of ... a victim support volunteer". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  5. "Homicide Service". victimsupport.org.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  6. "Board of Trustees". Victim Support. 15 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  7. "Senior management team". Victim Support. 18 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.