Victims of sexual violence and abuse show immense bravery in coming forward, and we want them to have the confidence to report incidents knowing they will get the support they need and that everything will be done to bring offenders to justice.<\/p>
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That is why we have nearly doubled funding for victim support services since 2013, as well as increasing the funding available to specialist rape and sexual abuse services by 10% - up to £24m over the next three years \u2013 to help provide advice, support and counselling to victims of these appalling crimes.<\/p>
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We are also taking action through the Government\u2019s Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, backed by £100 million of funding, to support victims and prevent these crimes from happening in the first place. As part of this work we will undertake a review of the criminal justice system\u2019s response to rape and sexual offences to ensure we support survivors through every stage of this process.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4517", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lucy Frazer"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South East Cambridgeshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lucy Frazer"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-05-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-05-03T13:20:01.673Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-04-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Sexual Offences"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to encourage victims of attempted rape to report that crime to the police.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3985", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Robert Halfon"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Harlow"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Robert Halfon"} ], "uin" : "247665"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1123093", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Ministry of Justice"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1123093/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
In accordance with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (Victims\u2019 Code), a person is entitled to support if they have suffered harm, including physical, mental or emotional harm or economic loss, which was directly caused by a criminal offence. They are entitled to access victim support services at any time, whether they have reported a crime or not.<\/p>
This year, the Government allocated £24m over the next three years to specialist sexual violence and abuse support services across England and Wales to provide advice, support and counselling to victims of these appalling crimes to help them cope with and, as far as possible, recover from the effects of crime. Part of this funding will go towards Independent Sexual Violence Advisors to provide impartial advocacy for victims of sexual violence and abuse who have reported to the police or are considering reporting to the police.<\/p>
In addition, in the cross-government Victims Strategy, which we published on 10 September 2018, we made a commitment to improve support for victims of crime, including by increasing the number of Registered Intermediaries, communication experts helping vulnerable victims and witnesses give their best evidence at police interview and at court.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4517", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lucy Frazer"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South East Cambridgeshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lucy Frazer"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-05-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-05-03T13:22:19.947Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-04-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Sexual Offences: Victim Support Schemes"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support is available to victims of attempted rape during the process of bringing their case to the police.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3985", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Robert Halfon"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Harlow"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Robert Halfon"} ], "uin" : "247666"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }