Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Justice to detail any assessment that has been made of any barriers in accessing support services for victims of crime, who live in rural communities.
Minister of Justice: I recognise the unique challenges facing victims of crime who live in rural or hard-to-reach communities, and the importance of ensuring that they can access support services and receive timely information, advice and assistance regardless of where they live.
In developing the Victims and Witnesses of Crime Strategy 2026-2032, my Department undertook a Rural Needs Impact Assessment and engaged with the Rural Community Network. This identified a number of potential barriers for rural victims, including transport difficulties, digital literacy challenges and communication blackspots. These findings informed both the Strategy and its Action Plan.
The Strategy aims to improve support, communication and engagement across the justice system and includes measures to ensure the voices of rural communities are reflected in future policy development. Importantly, all Department-funded victim support services are available across Northern Ireland irrespective of location.
This includes ASSIST NI advocacy services for high-risk victims of domestic and sexual abuse, core-funded services delivered by Victim Support NI, the NSPCC Young Witness Service, and the Sexual Offences Legal Adviser (SOLA) and Children’s Sexual Offences Legal Adviser (CSOLA) services. Collectively, these services provide victims with access to information, advice, advocacy and practical support throughout the criminal justice process.
The Victim Charter further supports victims’ access to information by setting out the services and entitlements they can expect from charter service providers. The Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill, which is currently at Committee Stage, will strengthen accountability for delivery of those entitlements by charter service providers, helping to drive greater transparency and consistency in service delivery.
Taken together, the Strategy, Action Plan and range of regionally available support services are designed to address the barriers identified for rural communities and help ensure that victims can access the same support and assistance wherever they live in Northern Ireland.
ENDS
