Families of knife crime victims speak out to call for change
Three people who have lost a family member to knife crime have shared their stories and made a call for change in how knife crime is dealt with in Scotland.
Victims’ Awareness Week is taking place from 21-28 February 2025. This annual event is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the experiences of people who have been impacted by crime, while calling for positive change within the criminal justice system.
The theme for this year is Listen. Act. Hope – Victim Support Scotland is hoping that this awareness week will motivate people across Scotland to:
LISTEN to victims and their experiences
ACT and take this into consideration when making decisions, and by doing so provide
HOPE for people impacted by crime.
We’d love for you to get involved and spread the word about Victims’ Awareness Week as an individual or partner organisation.
You can download graphics for social media below, and we’ve provided some example messaging to accompany these too.
Example social media post:
Listen. Act. Hope. This Victims’ Awareness Week, together we can make a positive change to Scotland’s criminal justice system.
We’re joining Victim Support Scotland in asking people to:
👂 LISTEN to victims and their experiences
🤝 ACT and take this into consideration when making decisions, and by doing so provide
🕊 HOPE for people impacted by crime
For more information on Victims’ Awareness Week and how you can get involved, visit ⬇️
https://victimsupport.scot/news/victims-awareness-week-2025/
You can tag Victim Support Scotland on the below channels:
Share our video
To mark Victims’ Awareness Week, we asked people who have been impacted by crime to tell us about their experiences of the criminal justice system.
The resulting film is a powerful reminder of why we need to listen to people who have lived experience of crime if we are to create meaningful change – change that has victims’ voices at its heart.
A huge thank you goes out to those who participated in this film – it is dedicated to everyone who is living with the ongoing impact of crime.
Three people who have lost a family member to knife crime have shared their stories and made a call for change in how knife crime is dealt with in Scotland.
Victim Support Scotland has unveiled a new 5-year strategy setting out its aims for supporting victims of crime in a rapidly changing justice landscape.
A new partnership between VSS and the Scottish Ambulance Service will help patients access support after crime.
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