Yesterday, the government announced the launch of a new service that will give victim‑survivors of rape access to independent legal advisors. They also revealed they’re expanding Operation Soteria into the courtoom – helping shift the focus from the victim to perpetrator.

Michaela-Clare Addison, National Sexual Violence Lead at Victim Support, said:

“Establishing a new national legal advisor service for rape victims is a long-overdue but welcome step forward. For too long victim-survivors have been fundamentally failed by a system that makes them pay too high a price for justice. Free, independent legal advice will support victim-survivors moving through the whole of the criminal justice system.

“Our Suffering for Justice research highlighted that many of those who go to court are left dealing not only with the devastating impact of the initial crime, but also their distressing experience of a complex and re-traumatising criminal justice system. Expanding Operation Soteria into the courtroom to ensure rape cases focus on suspects not victims is an essential part of improving the survivor’s experience and restoring faith across the whole system.

“We’ll be looking at the detail of both announcements but any move towards providing consistent, much-needed legal advice and support to all those who need it – irrespective of where they live – is progress. Victim-survivors deserve nothing less than for us to fix this broken system. Change cannot come quickly enough, and we’ll work closely with our partners to make it happen.”