Linked Data
Despite the fact that Government have continued to talk about victims being central to our criminal justice system, we know that we are mainly failing to provide victims with timely information and support. In many parts of the justice system, victims data is simply not recorded (or at least not in any accessible format). Where it is recorded, the information is incomplete and lacks the sort of detailed information (particularly protected characteristics) which would help policy makers improve the victim experience.
A fundamental problem is that the different data sets cannot be joined up throughout the criminal justice process and there is abundant evidence to show not only the impact on individual victims but also on the justice system itself with high numbers of victims (particularly of the most serious crimes) withdrawing from the criminal justice process to protect themselves from repeat victimisation.
A new (19 September 2024) report from the Government’s BOLD (Better Outcomes through Linked Data) programme set out
- to discover what data a specific third sector service holds and to examine the completeness of the data
- to understand if it is possible to use this data to assess the services that victim-survivors need and identify typical support packages offered
- to examine a victim-survivor’s journey through a support service
- to understand if it is possible to use this data to understand victim-survivor disengagement from the support service
The BOLD Victims Pathway Pilot formed a partnership with SWERCC, which includes two out of the three Rape Crisis Centres in the Synergy Essex partnership (SERICC and SOSRC) who shared their data for the purposes of this research.
Key findings
The headline finding from the study showed both that the service provided was very helpful for 85% of victim-survivors who filled in a survey BUT that most people did not make use of the service, often because they did not know about it or were not given information in a helpful way. The key findings were:
- For victim-survivors who completed a before and after questionnaire, it is indicated that engagement with SWERCC has a positive impact on a victim-survivor’s ability to cope and build resilience and is therefore working as intended for those who engage with the service.
- As expected from the wider literature, the most common victim-survivor typology for those who are over 18 years of age is females between the age of 18 – 44 with a primary incident of rape (42%).
- Police forces are the most common referral stream into the service (33%), almost all of which are from Essex Police. However, most referrals are received from non-police sources. Those referred via the police are most likely to drop out – see graphic below.
- The most common risks, issues and impacts across all primary incident types suggest that victim-survivors most commonly attend the service with needs relating to mental health and psychological wellbeing.
- Over half of victim-survivors (57%) waited for more than two years before reaching out to seek support and contacting specialist services.
- Unsurprisingly, victim-survivors who waited more than two years to seek support had a higher prevalence of poor mental health (31%), compared with those who waited less than a week (24%), and those who waited between a week and a month (21%). However, it is unclear if poor mental health was pre-existing (before the incident), or as a result of the incident.
- As expected from the wider literature, the most common type of perpetrator is someone known to the victim-survivor (81%).
- The most common service accessed was therapy (38%). This was followed by the use of the wraparound service (both therapy and advocacy) (20%).
- The largest level of attrition from the service happens between the initial referral and the victim-survivor completing an assessment of needs (34%).
- Nearly 50% of all cases disengage before receiving any type of service.
- Disengagement from the service is highest amongst police referrals, with only 26% of cases ending in a planned way. Those who self-refer are least likely to disengage, with 43% ending in a planned way.
- Disengagement from the service is most common amongst 18 – 44-year-olds. Victim-survivors under the age of 44 had a planned closure rate of 32%, compared with 40% for victim-survivors over the age of 44.
Conclusions
In summary, many victim-survivors present to the service with multiple and complex needs, primarily related to poor mental health. Many victim-survivors wait for more than two years before reaching out to seek support from specialised services and a higher prevalence of poor mental health was found within this cohort. The largest level of attrition from the service happens after the initial referral and before completing an assessment of needs, many of whom are referred by the police soon after the incident.
However, while the data has produced findings that are beneficial for developing the current evidence base, the quantitative methods used for analysis mean that there are still many unanswered questions. Perhaps the most important ones are:
- Why are victim-survivors waiting more than two years to seek support and how can they be supported to engage with services sooner?
- Why do many of those referred by the police disengage before completing an assessment and is the service engaging with victim-survivors at the right time?
- Is the service meeting their needs and what improvements could be made to the service to encourage engagement?
This is a recurrent theme in work with victims; different people want and/or feel ready to accept support at different times and most referral mechanisms tend to be much simplistic, providing information at a moment of personal trauma which, for many, is not the right moment. Given that victims-survivors of rape may now, typically, wait many years for their perpetrator to face the courts, the provision of an open-ended, opt-in service at any point is even more critical.
