An independent review has found disabled victims of crime disproportionately suffer from inadequate access to justice.
This new report was commissioned by Baroness Newlove, the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, and has found disabled victims of crime are ‘confronted by impenetrable systems, inflexible procedures, and dismissive attitudes that block their path to justice.’ The research examines literature from the UK and overseas on disabled victims’ interactions with criminal justice systems.
It follows the Victim’s Commissioner’s 2023 Victim Survey, which revealed widespread dissatisfaction among disabled crime victims on their interactions with the police. Baroness Newlove said the latest review validated her survey, demonstrating that ‘insufficient training, knowledge and experience among criminal justice professionals on working with disabled victims contributed to these access issues.
Criminal justice professionals reported feeling less confident because of their lack of training on how best to communicate with and meet the needs of those with disabilities. Procedural and organisational barriers for disabled victims were identified across the justice system. In court, there was a lack of reasonable adjustments, such as physically inaccessible courtrooms and difficulty accessing interpreters for deaf people.
Similar problems were discovered within policing. There, the mechanisms for reporting crime were potentially inaccessible and inappropriate. Alternative communication methods, such as text-based systems instead of telephone operators for deaf victims, could be problematic as they assumed high-levels of literacy.
Concerns were also raised over delays in police responses to crimes reported by disabled people, many of whom felt they were taken less seriously.
Six recommendations were made for practical reform. These included improved training and professional development for criminal justice workers to help them understand how to better support disabled victims, more consistent identification and implementation of reasonable adjustments, and attitudinal changes to reduce the dismissal and minimisation of crimes reported by disabled people.
