Victim support is an independent charity for the victims and witnesses in England and Wales. Victim support is a national charity that supports victims and witnesses of crime and it began in Bristol in 1972. They have been around for over 40 years and now have become the oldest and largest victims’ organisation in the world. The organisation was founded by a group of people, including members of the National Associations for the care and resettlement of the offenders (also known as NACRO). There are number of services that are involved within the charity, which they refer their victims to if they cannot provide the right support and services the victim requires. Victim support stands to help individuals that are abused and violated. Victim …show more content…
One of the main issues with this policy is that many victims are not aware of their entitlement under the victims’ Code and this could be due the fact that not all volunteers know about it themselves therefore cannot provide information they have no understanding of it. To some extent the reason victims do not receive full information is because the volunteers are not trained well enough in terms of being aware of the information they should give to their clients (victims). It’s important for victims to receive full information (such as financial compensations available to the victim and how they can access this) relation to their right, particularly in relation to the Parliamentary and Health Service, what services the organisation can provide for them. All these information are essential for the victim to be aware of it. However, is now more common to see that victims find it difficult to know who or how to make their complaints and how to secure help when they need it most. Victim support has provided all staff and volunteers to have a timeframe to response to victims needs and provide services, however, there have been complaints that victims need has not been met nor receive an explanation within the timeframe specified in the Victims’ code. Additionally, for some victims the services providers had taken to resolve their complaints were inadequate. In particular some victims felt that their needs are …show more content…
Therefore, the police and other criminal justice agencies find it simpler to use it, whereas the victims find it hard. Helen Grant MP, Minister for Victims and the Courts stated in her review about the “improving the Code of Practice” that the “Code is perceived by many as having been written for practitioners rather than for victims”. This had lead to victims, not understanding their full rights and entitlements from criminal justice agencies. The code needs to be reformed in a way that enables for victim to navigate around and use it to its full potential. One of the problem which was identified by the Code was that it was too complex and was suggested how it would be better for victims if the code was written in a simpler way for victims to go through it. Another concern about the Victims’ Code is providing updates. The current Code provided updates for the victims monthly when a suspect being apprehended in an active case. However, victims prefer to get their updates in their own terms, which make it easier for them to follow up their