Hampshire domestic abuse charity says backlogged court dates are "re-traumatising" victims
The government have announced extra funding for courts to sit a "record number" of days to speed up justice for victims.
A Hampshire domestic abuse charity says backlogged court cases are "re-traumatising" victim survivors.
It comes as the government announce extra funding for courts to sit a "record number" of days to speed up justice for victims.
The Stop Domestic Abuse charity told us their concerns for victim survivors around the backlogged cases.
Claire Lambon, CEO of Stop Domestic Abuse, said: "There is a large backlog in both the Crown and Magistrates Courts with many criminal cases waiting more than a year to get to trial, and we're used to seeing repeated delays.
"We know that these delays exacerbate stress, anxiety, depression, re-traumatise victims and survivors.
"We know it interrupts their process of recovery and it might sometimes drive them to withdraw from the process, lose confidence in the system.
"We are seeing an increase in people waiting and having repeated adjournments, which force victims to relive the abuse repeatedly.
"We just know that earlier closure can help victims feel that justice is being done.
"It reduces that uncertainty and we know that faster trials help maintain the quality of a case.
"We don't want victims dropping out of the system.
"We don't want them disengaging as proceedings drag on.
"We certainly don't want them experiencing additional incidents of abuse because the system's been delayed."
Victims are hoped to get faster justice as the government announce courts will sit for a record number of days.
More trials will be heard in court as an extra 1,250 Crown Court sitting days are announced.