Government announces £14m violence prevention funding and specialist rape courts

Frontline services and communities across the country are to receive £14 million to support work aimed at preventing violence against women and girls, alongside plans to introduce specialist courtrooms for rape and serious sexual offences across every Crown Court in England and Wales.

The £14 million prevention funding includes £10 million through a Prevention Accelerator fund, led by UK Research and Innovation, to help promising local projects scale up and expand into new communities. A further £4 million will be provided through the Evaluation Accelerator Fund to strengthen the evidence base around approaches that prevent violence and abuse.

The projects will cover areas including teenage relationship harm, technology-enabled abuse and violence in public spaces. Other initiatives will explore how technology can be used safely when someone discloses abuse and how relationship harm involving under-16s can be identified and interrupted.

First Secretary of State Louise Haigh said: “Violence against women and girls is a stain on our society and this government is committed to halving it within a decade.

“We are backing local projects to deliver real change, ensuring new ideas are properly funded and tested to tackle abuse at its root.

“This is how we put safety back in the hands of local communities, ensuring every woman and girl can live free from fear in their homes, in public spaces and online.”

The announcements come alongside changes to the way rape and serious sexual offence cases will be handled in the courts. Every Crown Court in England and Wales is to have at least one courtroom specially equipped to hear these cases over the next two years.

The specialist courtrooms will include private waiting rooms and entrances for victims, facilities to allow evidence to be pre-recorded and arrangements enabling victims to observe sentencing remotely. Rape and serious sexual offence trials will also be prioritised and given fixed dates, rather than being placed on floating lists where hearings can be moved at short notice.

Government figures show that rape cases took an average of 424 days to complete once they reached the Crown Court in 2025. The changes are intended to reduce delays and improve the experience of victims and survivors navigating the criminal justice system.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “For too long, victims of rape and serious sexual offences have felt let down by our justice system. Prosecution rates for rape remain shamefully low, with many victims waiting years for justice.

“This is not good enough. That’s why we are making major changes to rebalance the scales of justice and put victims first. This includes rolling out specialist courtrooms for rape and serious sex offences.

“These changes are long overdue and will make a significant difference, but focusing on prosecution alone will not be enough. So as well as ensuring victims get justice, we will step up action to prevent these horrific crimes from happening in the first place.”

The new court measures will also include trauma-informed training for court staff and a trial providing victims of sex offences with a single point of contact throughout the court process. A new Rape Justice Taskforce will bring together leaders from across the criminal justice system to address postponed rape trials and what the government describes as myths that can contribute to victims withdrawing from cases.

Lord Chancellor Alex Norris said: “Victims of rape and serious sexual offences have felt they’ve been left alone facing the criminal justice system for too long. They have been treated as cases to process and not as people to support.

“The funding we are announcing today will provide that support that victims deserve – delivering courtrooms that are designed with victim needs in mind and providing specialist training for staff to handle these cases with care.

“Real action to improve our courts. Real action for victims. Real action to deliver the justice they deserve.”

Rape Crisis England & Wales welcomed the package, saying it included reforms the organisation had been calling for over many years.

Ciara Bergman, CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales, said: “This important package of measures represents a significant step forward for our justice system, and includes many of the reforms that Rape Crisis England & Wales have been calling for over many years. Taken together, they reflect the urgency of ensuring that courts are fit for purpose and properly meet the needs of victims and survivors, which is crucial to securing justice.

“We’re particularly pleased to see measures that will improve trial efficiency and ensure survivors are better able to participate in, and observe, proceedings. The recognition that suitable separate waiting areas, entrances and exits are essential to prevent survivors from being intimidated and distressed by the presence of perpetrators and their supporters is also significant. This welcome change is both necessary and long overdue.”

The government said the measures form part of its wider commitment to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. It has also pledged that all police forces in England and Wales will have dedicated rape and sexual offence investigation teams by the end of 2027, while further measures include domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms and the rollout of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders.