Using Digital to Help Victims of Crime
Posted on 25. Mar, 2010 by helen in blogs, featured
Sometimes my job allows me to take part in events or acitivites which most people would never ever be able to and yesterday was one of those occasions. I was asked to facilitate a ‘Victims Symposium’ by Humberside Criminal Justice Board. The day took the format of workshops and presentations from the many agencies who are involved in the ‘victim experience’. I arrived with fresh eyes and very little knowledge of the challenges facing those tasked with suppporting victims of crime. My background as a journalist working in Humberside for the BBC has provided me with a good knowledge of the law and the criminal justice system but victims were always people I spoke to at the height of the story. I never spared much thought for their lives after the event or how they were treated by the ’system’
It soon struck me that the victim experience is complex. A one size fits all solution is not the answer and the people gathered at the conference were all striving to improve the current provision. So much hard work has been done already to help including employing specialists workers, increasing funding for Victim Support, The Victim Impact Statement which allows victims to write a statement about how they have been affected by the crime for the Judge to take into account during sentencing and a controversial scheme enabling offenders to meet victims or vice versa.
There was real compassion in the room and shock at some of the true stories from actual victims on how the system had let them down. For me the most interesting and possibly simple solution talked about on the day was the use of digital technology in helping the victim. The simple text message was held up to be a quick, cost effective way of keeping in touch with the victim to make sure they were ok. Just by sending a text message to let them know someone was thinking about them, someone was supporting them and helping them. Most people now use mobile phones and carry them most of the time. It seemed that this simple form of communication had paid real dividends to the victim who spoke of her isolation on the day.
As we move into a period of immense economic challenges, where budgets will be cut and people will have less time I wonder if the simple text can be the missing link. It certainly helped one victim of a serious crime stay connected to the people who wanted to help her most.
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