Why victims’ rights need to stay at the top of Scotland’s political agenda

As our 40th anniversary year draws to a close, we are reflecting on four decades of offering consistent, trusted support to people affected by crime. 2025 has been an important year for Victim Support Scotland (VSS) and the people we work with. 

After years – and in some cases decades – of campaigning alongside victims for key legislative changes, the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform Act has finally become law. This Act included the abolition of the not proven verdict, creation of a Victims’ Commissioner, implementation of trauma-informed practice, alongside important changes to parole and the Victim Notification Scheme. 

On the face of it, this could look like ‘job done’. So, what now for VSS and people affected by crime? 

As we approach the 2026 Scottish Government elections, with a significant proportion of current MSPs standing down, it is even more important that we continue to champion the needs of victims. We must ensure that victims’ voices are central to a trauma-informed criminal justice system and, indeed, to a progressive Scotland.

Crime, victimisation and victims’ experience of crime is changing. Technology is creating new forms of harm – from increasingly sophisticated online fraud and scams to image-based abuse – all while traditional crimes are taking new shapes. 

The impact of crime on mental health and wellbeing continues to deepen, with more people turning to VSS for help while they wait for, or move beyond, other services. Projections from the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service show that court backlogs and trial waiting times are expected to rise sharply over the next five years, resulting in longer periods of uncertainty and distress for victims, witnesses and their families. 

There are growing efforts to divert cases away from trial and, whilst this might be positive for some victims, others might feel they’ve lost out on the healing and cathartic aspects of ‘their day in court’ and find it harder to access referral routes for support. 

Our VSS manifesto (which will be shared in full), informed by our work with people with lived experience, calls on:

• The effective implementation of the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Act 2025. 
• Mitigating the harmful effects of emerging impacts of crime. This must include greater authority to regulate social media content, including more effective methods of removing and enhanced powers to regulate harmful or distressing content. The sharing of deepfake images, especially those that cause emotional or reputational harm, cannot go unchallenged. 
• Enhanced support for people who are more vulnerable to being impacted by crime. VSS seeks the implementation of a suite of targeted support and interventions to address the specific needs of vulnerable victims - such as young people, people living in areas of higher deprivation, and people who are homeless. 
• Support for families bereaved by murder, culpable homicide, or terrorism. Families who experience bereavement as a result of these crimes require dedicated support to cope with the unique range of emotions and practical challenges in the days, weeks, months and years after the crime has occurred. 

Trauma-informed approaches must underpin these actions so that the justice system does not re-traumatise victims at any point. Victim Support Scotland remains committed to championing this approach for all aspects of the criminal justice system. 

Our 40th anniversary theme of Listen, Act, Hope. was chosen to represent VSS’s enduring commitment to ensuring that victims are not voiceless in the system; that action is informed by their lived experience; and that together, this culminates in delivering real hope for a justice system that truly has victims at its heart.

This article is sponsored by Victim Support Scotland.

www.victimsupport.scot