This is horrific, the laws need to be changed to allow victims the opportunity to pursue justice in circumstances such as this. There is not much of a payout for victims of crime through the courts either and it would not cover all the legal costs such as this case. There are time limits applied as well and the compensation is in categories which have different monetary values. One needs to seek legal advice on how to obtain the correct payments that one could be entitled to.
Perhaps the police need better training in this area, as stated, victims of violence do not all act meek and mild and sometimes the police officers attending the incident may not pick up on who is the victim. Fight or flight responses can be misleading. Victims, who are usually women, come in all shapes and sizes and ethnicity. Anger’s and humiliation are normal human reactions, then feeling frightened, intimidated, mental illness suffered by the victim and not believed adds to the stress.
Yes, it is also a minefield for police too because some victims will withdraw charges within 24 hours usually due to intimidation or feeling guilty about calling the police or family members pressuring the victim. Police are often left frustrated by the victim withdrawing charges, and that can happen multiple times by one person, which leaves police reluctant to get involved. Either way it’s a horrible situation made worse by injuries suffered by the victims and most often the victims have no money to take legal action or even seek legal advice.
