Victims and witnesses of crime
Preventing and reducing crime are top priorities for the Safer Lambeth Partnership.
We take seriously our responsibility to support anyone who has been affected. Making sure victims and witnesses are placed at the heart of the criminal justice system is both a national and local priority.
To help the Safer Lambeth Partnership achieve this, an audit was carried out on services available to victims and witnesses. In this audit, both young people and adults were consulted on their experiences of being a victim of crime and asked about the types of support they wanted. Services provided by the criminal justice system were also looked at and were then matched against the standards set out in the national Victims Code of Practice and also the proposed Witness Chart.
The audit identified a number of priorities which are set out below:
- Funding counselling for adults through Victim Support who have been traumatised as a result of being victim of crime.
- Making sure support and counselling is available for children and young people through Victim Support and working closely with their families or carers. This service is also available to children and young people through schools.
- Increasing the amount of support and information available to members of the public faced with the prospect of attending court as a witness through the Lambeth Witness Care Unit.
- Training for housing staff on victims and witness issues particularly with regards to anti-social behaviour.
- Improving links with the Health Service to ensure more information is available in GP surgeries and hospitals
- More publicity about services available for victims and witnesses in a range of languages and formats
- Work with voluntary and community groups to increase understanding of victim and witness issues and support available and how they can provide this.
We recognise that certain communities may be victims of hate crime as a result of their race, religion, disability or sexual orientation. See more information on hate crime and the support available.
Advice and support contacts
Victim Support
Victim Support is the independent charity which provides free confidential support and information to help people cope with the effects of crime.
www.victimsupport.org.uk
Tel: 0845 30 30 900
Lambeth Victim support
Lambeth Victim Support provides practical advice and help, emotional support and reassurance.
www.vslambeth.org.uk
Tel: 020 7820 0007/8
Respect
Offers guidance and advice for witnesses and victims of anti-social behaviour.
www.respect.gov.uk
Witness Care Unit
Metropolitan Police
Gareth Harris
Tel: 020 8721 3721
Galop
London's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community safety charity.
www.galop.org.uk
Tel: 020 7704 2040
Broken Rainbow
Broken Rainbow is a UK-wide service offering support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender victims and survivors of domestic violence and abuse.
www.broken-rainbow.org.uk
Tel: 020 8539 9507