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Women’s Aid has responded to the Ministry of Justice’s latest package of criminal justice reforms and funding commitments, describing the measures as a positive step for survivors but emphasising that further investment and safeguards are essential.
Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, said the reforms mark a long-overdue shift towards improving the experience of victims who have “too often been left to navigate the justice system without adequate support”.
The government’s announcement of £550 million for victim support services over three years offers “some respite” for frontline organisations operating under intense financial pressure. While welcoming the uplift, Nazeer stressed that clarity is urgently needed on how much of this funding will be ring-fenced specifically for domestic abuse and sexual violence services.
She added that, in the context of the government’s commitment to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, Women’s Aid continues to call for £280 million per year to be dedicated to community-based support services that provide life-saving help to survivors.
Nazeer also raised concerns about elements of the government’s plans to address the courts backlog, particularly proposals that divert more cases away from court and rely more heavily on judicial discretion. She warned that inconsistent levels of domestic abuse training among the judiciary could place survivors and children at greater risk.
“Coercive control is an insidious form of abuse. Judges and magistrates must be equipped to understand its complexity and the responsibility they hold towards women and children,” she said, urging the government to ensure specialist domestic abuse training is mandatory across the judiciary.
Women’s Aid welcomed additional reforms influenced by Law Commission recommendations, including allowing previous domestic abuse convictions to be used at trial in related cases and limiting the use of ‘bad character’ evidence against rape complainants.
“For too long, survivors of rape have been disbelieved, questioned and undermined,” Nazeer said. “These changes are vital if trust in the justice system is to be rebuilt.”
