Legal advice & support for sexual violence complainants
This project evaluated a service offering free and independent legal advice to adult (age 16+) complainants of sexual violence.
About the project
The pilot was funded by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and delivered by the Centre for Women’s Justice and Women & Girls Network. It was designed to address a gap in support for complainants navigating the criminal justice process, particularly where they needed help to understand their rights, make informed decisions, or challenge decisions affecting their case.
At a glance
strong demand for legal support
The pilot supported 247 complainants across 297 legal matters, despite operating through limited referral routes.
PROCEDURAL JUSTICE
Clients described feeling more heard, validated, empowered, respected, and able to make decisions about their case.
Specialist model matters
The model was effective because it was free, independent, and grounded in expertise on sexual violence cases.
COMMUNICATION IS ESSENTIAL
Legal support works best when police and prosecutors understand the lawyer’s role and there are clear routes for communication.
The Evaluation
The research asked:
The research drew on:
Key Findings
The evaluation found strong demand for specialist legal advice. Over the first two years, the pilot supported 247 complainants across 297 legal matters, despite operating through deliberately limited referral routes.
Legal advice helped complainants understand complex legal processes, make informed decisions, and feel more confident about their rights and options.
Many clients described the support as empowering, validating, and reassuring. Across the findings, legal advice contributed to procedural justice by helping complainants feel heard, treated with dignity, and recognised as people with rights and legitimate interests within the criminal justice process.
The project also found that legal support could produce tangible changes. In some cases, lawyers helped challenge overbroad requests for personal records, supported Victims’ Right to Review applications, or helped complainants raise concerns about how their case had been handled.
The evaluation also found that legal support works best when criminal justice practitioners clearly understand the role of complainants’ lawyers and have confidence engaging with them.
Some challenges arose where communication routes were unclear, responses were delayed, or police and prosecutors were uncertain about issues such as disclosure, privilege, and the boundaries of legal advice.