Crime victims seeking support on the Isle of Man up 55% over decade

Paula Gelling said the nature of the crimes victims sought support for had changed

The number of victims of crime on the Isle of Man seeking support services has risen by 55% over the past decade, a charity says.

Victim Support was contacted by 185 people in 2011, rising to 287 in 2021.

It said those seeking help for sexual violence and domestic abuse so far in 2022 rose by 60% and 40% respectively compared to the same period in 2021.

Manager Paula Gelling said awareness of the support and the Me Too campaign had contributed to the rise.

The charity often acted as a "hand holding" service while victims awaited access to specialist services, she added.

Ms Gelling said the "depth" of the cases had "flipped around" over the past 10 years.

"Once upon a time it was perhaps people affected by criminal damage and things like that, on occasion things like violence and sexual abuse.

"Now we're very rarely dealing with things like criminal damage, but predominantly things like sexual violence and physical violence."

Informed decision

Ms Gelling said delays in the criminal justice system caused by Covid had also made things "tricky" for those awaiting the outcome of a court case as "basically their life's on hold".

"They try not to but… it's still there in the background and they don't know what the outcome is going to be," she said.

However, not everyone the charity supports is referred to it by the police and those seeking help are not obliged to report the offence committed against them.

"Some people come to us directly who haven't been to the police before, some people never want to go to the police, and that's fine," Ms Gelling said.

"We talk through with them what their options might be… so they're making a very informed decision, rather than thinking they haven't got any options."