Kate Wallace on Victims’ Awareness Week

In a month when we have already seen significant change impacting victims of crime - prisoners being released early, the outcome of the consultation on media reporting of child homicide, 2024’s recorded crime statistics - we are also marking Victims’ Awareness Week (Feb 21-28).

This is an annual call to action to listen to the experiences of people impacted by crime. 

Sadly, victims of crime, alongside other under-represented voices, are often left out of the big debates in the criminal justice system.

It can seem like they are left voiceless as legislation, which impacts them heavily, can be progressed without taking their input into consideration.  

Consequently, this Victims’ Awareness Week, we are calling on people to Listen. Act. Hope. 

LISTEN to victims and their experiences. 

ACT to provide, and help access, support, and consider these views when progressing legislation. By doing so, providing 

HOPE for people impacted by crime.  

From our work over the last 40 years, we at Victim Support Scotland (VSS) know that listening is the foundation for meaningful change. When we listen to people affected by crime, great things can happen. But to start listening, we must first be able to effectively reach people who need support – this is where charitable organisations can work together to ensure the people who need help receive it. 

We recently presented a session at SCVO’s Gathering, and what we learned is that people who need support are out there, but frustratingly, they are not always guided towards VSS. This can be for many reasons, but we were heartened to hear that attendees wanted to find out more about working with us to improve these referral pathways. 

As a result, we’ve been connecting with people from other charities to organise training sessions for staff about what support VSS can offer and how we can increase access to it. According to latest Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, only 29% of crime is reported to the police in Scotland – leaving hundreds of thousands of people to cope with the impact alone.  

There has been lots of progress in the last 40 years since Victim Support Scotland was first established, including enhanced systems for referring people to us at the point of the crime being reported, but there remains much more that could be done. Unfortunately, many of the issues that existed four decades ago are still very much present today, alongside an overall lack of awareness of victim support services.  

People often feel the need to deal with the effects of crimes by themselves, and half the battle is communicating that there are no ‘minor crimes’ and that everyone is worthy of support. Every crime is life-altering to a lesser or greater degree, and, importantly, VSS can support victims of all crime types – there is no crime we can’t support someone with. 

When we support someone, we listen closely to inform what kind of support they need. This might be a listening ear for their thoughts and worries; financial support after leaving an abusive situation; or accompanying them to court on the day of the trial. Whatever it is, listening provides a foundation for action. 

While we are seeing the green shoots of change in the criminal justice system, there is still much to be done. And if there’s something you think we can work together on to improve the experience of victims of crime, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. 

So this week, and every day of the year, we are asking for people, especially decision-makers in the criminal justice system, to listen to victims - to take people’s experiences into account and act on them when considering decisions that affect victims. And by doing so, provide hope for a brighter future for people who have been impacted by crime.

Kate Wallace is chief executive of Victim Support Scotland.

Victim Support Scotland free helpline
(Mon-Fri 8am-8pm, Sat-Sun 10am-4pm) :
0800 160 1985  

Access more information and support via webchat on our website:  
victimsupport.scot/ 

Find out more about the Emergency Assistance Fund, which provides goods and services to those in financial need after experiencing crime:  
victimsupport.scot/vss-eaf/