Initiative to support child abuse victims delayed
Sophie Eminson
Thursday, January 4, 2018
The launch of two specialist "child houses" designed to support victims of sexual abuse and help them through the court process has been delayed, it has emerged.
As part of an initiative being run jointly by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac) and NHS England, with Home Office funding, the two units were due to open in April 2017.
However, a spokesperson for Mopac has said that the project has been delayed because there has not been enough time to locate a suitable building and refurbish it.
Sarah Hitchings, from the crime and policing department at Mopac said that the impact of purdah prior to last year's general election also played a part in delaying the process.
She said the plan is now to launch the child houses, which are expected to support around 700 children a year, this summer.
The programme is being be jointly delivered by Mopac and NHS England (London), with home Office funding.
The two-year initiative is set to cost around £14.4m - with £7.2m coming from the Home Office's Police Innovation Fund, and match-funding of £7.2m from NHS England.
It is hoped the programme will lead to earlier detection of child sexual abuse, increased support for victims, and result in fewer repeat sexual violence crimes.
The child house model is based on the existing Barnahus (child house) model in Iceland, which focuses on providing a safe environment for child victims of sexual abuse to give statements to the police or lawyers involved with prosecutions.
