The Ministry of Justice has today (10 March) announced their long-awaited plans to fund an independent legal advice service for victim-survivors of rape. Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) has been leading the way in developing a sexual violence legal advice model and have been campaigning for many years for the funded extension of this crucial service. This is a vital step forward in making rape cases fairer and less damaging for victim-survivors.
The government have also announced that ‘Operation Soteria’ a model for investigating rape and sexual violence by focussing on the offender’s behaviour rather than the victim’s credibility, is to be extended to the court room to ensure progress made by the police approach to such investigations is not undermined by a lack of understanding of these principles by barristers and judges.
Many women who report rape and sexual violence find the criminal justice process intrusive, undermining and damaging. As a result of this process and the years’ long wait for rape trials to take place, many drop out of the system. A 2025 report by the London Victims Commissioner found that 69% of rape victims drop out of the process.
Victim-survivors are frequently requested to provide personal medical, counselling and education records to support a police investigation and often after undergoing this intrusive process, are informed a decision is made not to charge a perpetrator. Independent specialist lawyers, who are completely separate from the police and Crown Prosecution Service, can help uphold their rights and navigate a complex system that is often overwhelming and re-traumatising.
CWJ have developed and delivered their own independent legal advice service since 2019, advising some 300 survivors per year. Nogah Ofer, Head of CWJ’s Legal Advice Team, is also the legal supervisor for a London legal pilot, run in partnership with the charity Women and Girls Network. Nearing the end of its second year, the pilot has received near-universal praise from its users. We have shared the learning from this pilot with the Ministry of Justice.
Nogah Ofer, Lead Solicitor, stated:
“We hope that the model we have developed over a number of years will inform the national scheme. We look forward to seeing many more survivors being able to access this much-needed service. We also welcome the extension of Operation Soteria to the courts, to ensure that barristers and judges do not undermine the improvements made to the police investigation process by this important model.”
Harriet Wistrich, CEO of CWJ, stated:
“The introduction of Independent Legal Advice for victims of rape is a significant development in our traditionally adversarial criminal justice process. While the legal advice is limited to pre-trial processes, the new model recognises that it is not just defendants who require legal protection to prevent the infringement of their human rights.”
ENDS