Katie lived for six years under a shadow, a victim of domestic abuse, desperately awaiting justice. Her story isn't unique, but it’s a stark illustration of a system buckling under pressure, leaving survivors trapped in a cycle of fear and uncertainty long after escaping their abusers.
She initially believed a holiday offered a path to freedom. Secretly arranging for her mother to collect her belongings while she was away with her abuser, Tony, Katie finally found the courage to tell him she was leaving, fearing for her life if she stayed. But a shocking revelation – a pregnancy – complicated everything.
Even after separating from Tony, the abuse intensified during her pregnancy. He controlled her medical care, refusing to attend appointments and relentlessly pursuing intimacy despite her boundaries. He bombarded her with messages, using his friends’ phones and manipulating her with images of his children, a cruel attempt to maintain control.
Katie finally reported the abuse in July 2017, aided by the charity Solace. What followed was a grueling six-year ordeal, a seemingly endless wait for the legal system to act. Justice, when it finally arrived in October 2024, was bittersweet – a guilty verdict on three charges of Actual Bodily Harm and Coercive and Controlling Behaviour, but not guilty rulings on more serious allegations of rape and sexual assault. He received a four-year sentence and a ten-year restraining order.
Katie’s experience isn’t an isolated case. Alison Ruby, who reported childhood rape in 2019, endured a five-year wait for her trial, only to find her perpetrator had died and crucial witnesses had vanished. “If they’d have done it sooner, he would have at least been punished for a little while,” she lamented, robbed of even the small solace of seeing her abuser held accountable.
The root of the problem lies in the overwhelming backlog within the Crown Court system. Nearly 77,000 cases are currently awaiting hearing, an 11% increase in just one year. Victims now face an average wait of 271 days for resolution – a staggering 70% longer than before the pandemic.
These delays aren’t merely logistical inconveniences; they inflict profound emotional damage. A recent report revealed that many victims, exhausted and disheartened by repeated postponements, are abandoning their pursuit of justice altogether. The number of rape victims withdrawing from prosecutions before trial has more than doubled in five years.
Baroness Newlove, the Victims’ Commissioner, powerfully articulated the cost of these delays: “Justice should never come at such a cost.” Lives are put on hold, relationships are fractured, and careers are jeopardized, all while survivors remain vulnerable and traumatized.
While recent funding allocations aim to address the backlog, concerns remain about the support available to victims navigating this protracted process. Katie Kempen, Chief Executive of Victim Support, emphasized the critical need for sustained investment in services that help survivors cope with the trauma and uncertainty of long waits.
Katie herself described the toll the process took on her mental health, the constant reliving of her ordeal, and the erosion of her faith in the system. She lost jobs due to police appointments and the debilitating impact of her anxiety. The uncertainty felt worse than the abuse itself, a constant fear of her abuser finding her.
Josie Holden Wilby of Solace Women’s Aid highlighted the unique impact of delays on domestic abuse survivors, leading to heightened anxiety, hypervigilance, and a pervasive sense of unsafety. Some survivors have even reported that the court process itself feels more damaging than the original abuse, a heartbreaking testament to the system’s failings.
Even after Tony’s sentencing, Katie’s relief was tempered by the knowledge that he would be released on bail for two months, a terrifying prospect that reignited her fears. “He could still find me if he had tried,” she said, haunted by past threats and forced to live in a state of constant vigilance.
Despite the immense challenges, Katie persevered, finding a measure of peace in finally seeing the case through. “I had done it and I could finally start moving on,” she said. But her story serves as a powerful indictment of a system that too often fails those who need it most, leaving them to endure years of anguish in their search for justice.
