Dear Andy,

Congratulations on your appointment as Prime Minister.

As victim-survivors we wanted to write to you with some pressing issues that coincide with your appointment. We want to ensure that these don’t slip through the gaps while there is a change of leadership. Given Labour’s manifesto commitment to half VAWG within a decade, you cannot afford to; 51% of society’s lives literally depend on your Government’s promises.

We were very pleased to hear of Lady Chief Justice’s recent announcement of the (long overdue) prioritisation of RASSO cases in courts; these are the exact changes that we have been calling for, and provide a benchmark of hope for the progress that can, and has to, happen. But there is so much more to be done. The Courts and Tribunals bill plays an imperative role in further creating a justice system that is fit for purpose: the current projected trial date for women who have been raped is five years; we cannot wait that long. Victim-survivors will drop out, and rapist-murderers will walk free.

Early Release Scheme 

Once justice has finally been secured, victims should not then discover that the sentence they believed represented accountability is subject to a process that can significantly alter its meaning.

For many victims, particularly survivors of sexual offences, a conviction and sentence represent the culmination of years of waiting, uncertainty and often immense personal sacrifice: lost jobs, lost homes, lives put on hold. The sentence handed down by the court is not simply a number; it is the formal recognition of the harm caused and the seriousness with which society views that offending.

Discovering after conviction that an offender may be released significantly earlier than the sentence imposed by the court can therefore be deeply retraumatising. For survivors of sexual offences, where the journey to justice can already involve years of disclosure, investigation, victim-shaming, court proceedings and reliving traumatic experiences, the prospect of an earlier return to the community can feel like a further erosion of the justice they fought so hard to achieve. The justice process cannot end at conviction; victims need confidence that the sentence imposed by the court carries meaning and that public protection remains at its centre.

We fully recognise the immense pressure facing the prisons and the difficult decisions any Government must make when capacity reaches critical levels. However, prison capacity should never become the determining factor in decisions that fundamentally alter victims' experience of justice, particularly in cases involving sexual offending. The burden of systemic pressures should not be transferred onto those who have already endured years of trauma, lengthy investigations and significant court delays to secure a conviction - not to mention those for whom it is inconceivable to report the crime in the first place, because of these very public “rows”. Without trust, there cannot be justice. 

Governments inevitably inherit challenges from their predecessors. They are elected to resolve those challenges, not to ask victims to bear the consequences of them. The long-term answer lies in increasing capacity, strengthening rehabilitation where appropriate, and ensuring that public protection and confidence in the justice system remain paramount. Until then, the most serious offenders should not benefit from emergency measures designed to address structural pressures within the prison estate.

Courts and Tribunals Bill

Furthermore, as victim-survivors we have been campaigning for some of the changes that are within the Courts and Tribunals bill for over three years; some of us have given oral evidence in parliament and all of us have felt the failure of these laws that are not yet in place. This has come at great personal cost, but we continue to speak out, for the greater good - in the hope that no-one else will have to endure what we have at the hands of a justice system not fit for purpose. 

You’ll no doubt know that the justice system is failing. It’s failing all of us; floating trials are still a reality, magistrates courts are not recorded, perpetrators get an automatic right to appeal in a magistrates courts and perpetrators can still “pick” if they want to attend a crown court or magistrate court if they are facing an ‘either way offence’, just to name a few. Each of these failings delay justice and bring further harm to victim-survivors at a time when they have already been harmed.

We know there are differing opinions on the juryless trials - but we urge you to listen to differing voices including experts and those who have experienced the system, because its not working as it is.

We recognise that there are elements of the bill which are undoubtedly contentious, and require further investigation; but as Sir Brian Leveson said, ‘The present way in which trials are organised, allocated and tried is no longer sustainable, and, if continued, will lead to the collapse of the criminal justice system.’ We are beyond the point of an Occam’s Razor; there are no easy answers. The whole system needs changing. This is why the Courts and Tribunals bill as a whole needs to continue to be pushed through.

We believe that the inclusion of lived experience voices is imperative to how we tackle VAWG; Labour’s promise to voters to half VAWG cannot be fulfilled without this - without us. 

We seek a meeting with yourself and Alex Norris at your very earliest convenience to discuss the early release scheme and how we can meaningfully move the Courts and Tribunals bill forward, and are very happy to share our personal experience with you.

Kind regards,

Charlotte Meijer survivor of Coercive Control and Rape, Jade Blue survivor of Rape, Victoria Crawford survivor of Childhood Sexual Abuse & Morwenna Loughman survivor of Rape and GBH