V presenter Charlie Webster stated she was left in tears after the story of her childhood good friend who suffered sexual abuse and in the end took her personal life was raised in Parliament following a marketing campaign to enhance assist for victims.
Ms Webster has written an open letter – signed by Rape Crisis, Women’s Aid, Refuge and Save the Children UK and others – calling on the Government to supply “sufficient” multi-year funding for specialist assist companies within the Victims and Prisoners Bill.
In the letter, Ms Webster described how her good friend Katie helped to convict their abusive operating coach, solely to take her personal life a few years later.
Her story was raised by Labour MP Jess Phillips within the House of Commons as MPs debate the Bill’s second studying.
The MP for Birmingham, Yardley, who's a shadow Home Office minister however was talking from the again benches, famous rhetoric on offering assist to victims of abuse, however hit out at a scarcity of specialist assist companies.
“Let’s just get some counsellors for people to go to, that might be an idea… I think that many of us will have seen the letter today from Charlie Webster, who is a friend of many of us in this chamber, and the story of her friend Katie, who took her life following not being able to overcome the trauma of her situation, is the actual reality on the ground for the vast,” she stated, earlier than chopping off to take an intervention.
When Ms Webster was 19, their coach was convicted and despatched to jail for 10 years. In 2021, she documented her expertise alongside victims together with Katie in a documentary for the BBC known as Nowhere To Run: Abused By Our Coach.
Earlier this yr, Ms Webster revealed Katie had died by suicide.
Ms Webster, in her letter to the Government, stated: “If you truly want to put victims and survivors at the heart of the bill then I strongly call on you to ensure that sufficient multi-year funding is allocated to make sure that victims can get access to specialist support when then need it, particularly specialist counselling and emotional support that help survivors to work through trauma and rebuild their lives after sexual abuse.”
The broadcaster additionally stated on Twitter: “Although I welcome the efforts currently being made, and the creation of the Victim’s Bill, it’s irresponsible to create a bill that says it has victims at its heart but doesn’t provide sufficient commitment to specialist support for them.”
After Ms Phillips spoke, Ms Webster wrote on Twitter: “In tears. Thank you @jessphillips for speaking about Katie in Parliament.
“I so desperately wanted Katie and her pain be heard after all these years. I’m heartbroken for her and her family that we can’t bring her back, and help her. But we can save others.”
Conservative MP Kate Kniveton additionally urged ministers to take a position extra in assist companies for home abuse victims.
The Burton MP instructed the Commons: “We need to ensure the available support is what victims want and need. So much of this is crisis-related, and of course getting people into safety is hugely important, but what about after that?”
She cited analysis by Women’s Aid which claimed investing a minimal of £427 million a yr to fund specialist home abuse companies throughout England “could save the public purse as much as £23 billion a year”.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk had earlier instructed the Commons: “The Bill will provide better support for victims.
“It will help to ensure that support services – those critical services – are targeted where they are most needed by introducing a new joint statutory duty on police and crime commissioners, integrated care boards and local authorities to co-operate, to work together when commissioning support services for victims of domestic and sexual abuse and other serious violent crimes.”
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