No. Legal advice and advocacy for people reporting rape seeks only to ensure that existing rules and procedures are adhered to, and the victim’s existing legal rights are not violated throughout an investigation and legal proceedings.

CPS lawyers represent the Crown (the public interest); they do not represent victims. Cases that go to court are not brought by the victim - they are brought by the Crown. The victim’s role is only as a witness.

This means that the CPS lawyers must balance the interests of the general public, the victim and the accused person(s). This often means that victims are asked for access to their private data (including mobile phone data and notes from counselling and healthcare providers), and therefore CPS lawyers cannot impartially represent the rights of victims.

ISVAs don’t have the legal qualifications required to provide legal advice, and they are not permitted to know the facts of a case. Therefore, ISVAs are not in a position to know whether police requests for access to private data are appropriate or relevant.

Yes. The lawyers would be required to pass a specialist training program with a trauma-informed approach.

We also believe they should have specialist training in advocacy for minoritised communities, such as disabled, Black, Asian, and other minoritised groups.

More importantly, there should be clear steps to recruit lawyers from minoritised and/or silenced communities.

The Home Office estimates that the annual cost of sexual offences to England and Wales is £12.2 billion. Providing free lawyers to victims of rape would only cost a minuscule 0.03% of this (£3.9 million) and would lead to savings for other public services, such as the NHS and social welfare.