Victims and domestic abuse commissioners have separately written to ministers urging an immediate halt to planned early releases of offenders convicted of crimes against women and girls in England and Wales, warning that a failure to implement safeguards puts abuse victims at risk. The rare coordinated intervention comes as charities report a surge in panic among victims, some of whom have installed CCTV for protection after receiving letters informing them that offenders will be released early under the new Sentencing Act from September.
Law aimed at prison overcrowding sparks safety fears
The Sentencing Act, passed in January to address a decades-long prisons crisis, is designed to combat overcrowding by allowing earlier release for certain offenders. However, unlike emergency measures that saw over 38,000 prisoners released after Labour came to power, the new law includes no exemptions for serious crimes, domestic abuse, or terrorism. Justice Secretary David Lammy and Prisons Minister James Timpson have been accused of breaking promises to ensure safeguards and victim support would be in place before the releases begin.
Claire Waxman, the Victims Commissioner, and Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, said they had received “specific reassurances” before the bill was passed that have not been fulfilled. Waxman stated: “I was repeatedly told that victims would be properly informed and reassured that measures would be put in place to keep them safe. What is abundantly clear now is that communication with victims, safeguarding and support has been an afterthought.”
Promised helpline not even planned
Jacobs wrote to the justice secretary and prisons minister that a dedicated helpline for victims, promised in the Victims and Courts Act, has not even begun planning. Other safeguards, including thorough pre-release checks and providing support services with a full picture of perpetrator risk, were conditions deemed acceptable to alleviate the capacity crisis. “To date, none of them have been met,” Jacobs wrote.
In a letter to Lord Timpson, Waxman expressed lack of confidence that offenders' risk will be adequately assessed or that probation can manage the volume of offenders in the community. She described letters sent to victims as “disastrous for trust and confidence in the justice system,” with recipients expressing “shock, anxiety, anger and confusion.”
Victims feel betrayed and unsafe
One victim of non-recent child sexual abuse told Waxman she bought CCTV after receiving the letter, saying: “I don’t trust the government to keep me safe any more.” Another woman, whose rapist breached a non-molestation order 26 times over five years, told the Guardian: “He will now potentially spend less time in prison than the time it took to get to court, but I got a life sentence. The victims are forgotten and the justice system is broken.”
Jess Phillips, who resigned as safeguarding minister in May, said she raised multiple fears about risk analysis before the sentencing bill was passed, but her concerns were not acted on. “They need to halt all releases related to violence against women and girls until they can prove that proper risk assessments are being done in every case,” she said. “Without the correct victim support systems in place, the state is leaving the responsibility of the prisons crisis in victims’ hands. That cannot be right.”
Political pressure and petition gains traction
Jade Belgrove, a child rape survivor who has waived her anonymity, said she was “petrified for the women who have been through this.” Her petition calling for a stop to early release of sexual offenders has over 62,000 signatures. The Conservatives forced a non-binding opposition day motion demanding the Sentencing Act be rewritten to strip rapists, paedophiles, and grooming gang members of early release rights.
Under the new system, prisoners serving sentences for less serious crimes can be freed after serving one-third of their sentence instead of 40%. Those convicted of violent or sexual offences are eligible for release halfway through their sentences rather than two-thirds. The Ministry of Justice said public safety and victim support is its “top priority,” citing a £700 million investment in probation by 2028 and £550 million for victim support services. A spokesperson said: “Without this decisive action, prisons will run out of space entirely as early as November and we will be unable to lock up serious offenders at all.”
Amelia Handy, head of policy at Rape Crisis England & Wales, said: “Many of the women and girls we support have waited years for their cases to get to court and sentencing is already very rarely representative of the harm caused. For victims and survivors to be told their abusers will serve even less time in prison feels unjust and unfair.”
