Overview
The focus of this panel was to initially embed the new Northumbria Victim and Witness Service (NVWS) into the landscape of victim services and to ensure victim services reflect the needs of our communities. As NVWS became more established, the focus of the panel shifted and became centred around victims’ experiences of the criminal justice system (CJS). Some insightful and valuable discussions took place during these meetings on areas such as:
- Single coordination of support for victims across the CJS
- Support for friends and families
- Restorative Justice
As a lot of the discussions centred around Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) related offences, our office introduced the VAWG panel which was created to provide further external advice and reflection in this area. Victims of VAWG are now able to provide their account via this group to allow for a widened approach to listening to the victim’s voice. We further built in a function to listen to the voice of victims by linking in with our local victim services who have identified victims that are keen to speak with us and share their accounts and experiences of the criminal justice system; and in doing so, enabling the voice of the victim to reach decision makers across the CJS.
The PCC remains committed to ensuring victims voices are heard – watch this space for more opportunities to get involved soon!