Through our experience of supporting clients through their criminal justice journeys, we have become aware of the risk of re-victimisation and re-traumatisation to victims in their engagement with the system, an observation that is borne out by both national and international research.

 However, there is a dearth of research based on in-depth interviews with adult victims of child sexual abuse in the research literature. The low reporting rates and high attrition rates for sexual crimes are described.

 The aim of this study is to bring to the forefront the voices of the victims, as co-researchers, in order to identify their experiences of the criminal justice system as complainant witnesses and to provide constructive analysis and recommendations to the criminal justice system through their voices. The majority of the study is comprised of direct quotations by victims

Please click here to download the Report: Only a Witness