21 April 2026 , 22:17
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Victims of rape and sexual violence have informed parliamentarians that they felt anxious and distressed during a Westminster evidence session, with one stating that witnessing “pugnacious” questioning resulted in her “breaking down, sobbing, and struggling to breathe”.
The victims’ commissioner has lodged a formal complaint to the chair of an influential group of MPs following a highly charged evidence session conducted by the public bill committee for the courts and tribunals bill, concerning controversial changes to jury trials.
Claire Waxman informed MPs that she could not “in good conscience, encourage victim-survivors to participate in evidence sessions conducted in a manner that may expose them to retraumatisation or emotional harm.” The letter, sent by the victims’ commissioner office chief executive, Susannah Hancock, noted that the committee chair, John Hayes, failed to “prevent the tone from escalating” as exchanges became “unnecessarily adversarial.”
Other victims’ organizations, including Rape Crisis and Women’s Aid, have also raised concerns following an evidence hearing that included robust questioning and some tense exchanges.
One victim told MPs that she felt “shocked, upset and extremely distressed” by some of the questioning she heard. Morwenna Loughman wrote in comments published alongside the letter that she felt it “crossed the line into disrespect and pugnaciousness”.
She added: “As a victim-survivor I immediately felt threatened and attacked, thrust back into fight or flight.” Loughman mentioned that the questioning played a significant role in her having an emotional breakdown, and she was “sobbing and struggling to breathe after questioning”.
Another survivor, Jade Blue McCrossen-Nethercott, said the session was “difficult to watch” and that the line between scrutiny and cross-examination was sometimes crossed. A third, Charlotte Meijer, commented that the way Waxman was questioned made her feel “like I was back in court” and expressed anxiety that the same would happen to her in her later evidence session.
At one point during the evidence, the shadow justice minister Kieran Mullan questioned Waxman about a letter in which 30 organizations representing victims of violence against women and girls (VAWG) urged the justice secretary, David Lammy, to abandon plans to significantly reduce the number of jury trials.
Mullan asked the commissioner if she accepted the letter referenced the impact of limiting jury trials on victims. Waxman replied that it focused on victims who were also defendants and said he should read the whole letter. Mullan said: “I have read it, and I have just read you a quote. If you do not want to take a common quote at its face value, that is fine.” Waxman responded: “Can I just remind you that we have victims in the room, and I think that is really important?”
The committee chairs made the unusual decision to escalate the letter to the deputy speaker Nusrat Ghani, the Guardian understands. Responding to the letter, Ghani, who oversees the chairs of public bill committees, emphasized the importance of MPs having “freedom to question robustly during parliamentary proceedings, particularly when holding public officials to account.” The committee chairs and members had “adopted an appropriate tone for questioning those witnesses and recognized their courage, both in comments on the record and in speaking to them afterwards,” she said.
Mullan remarked that Waxman sought “to downplay the voice of victims that didn’t agree” with her, adding: “That was disgraceful and I have no regrets for ensuring the House was not misled by a witness. Especially a witness paid a lot of money by the taxpayer to give a voice to all victims.”
He added that he was “of course very saddened that our exchanges upset victims who happened to be in the room”, and expressed that he “cared a great deal” about victims. “But as MPs, it is our job to get to the truth of a matter – without fear or favor,” he said.
Rape Crisis also wrote to the chair of the public bill committee. The charity stated that the “adversarial” tone, repeated interruptions, and pressure for narrow answers, “risked replicating some of the very dynamics survivors of rape and sexual abuse” found distressing.
Farah Nazeer, the chief executive of Women’s Aid, expressed that the session left her “disappointed and angry on behalf of the survivors,” adding that while robust questioning was “absolutely essential” she felt “the questioning felt closer to cross-examination” and victims had not been treated with enough care.
Waxman stated that parliament needed to be “a safe and supportive place” for victims and requested a meeting with the deputy speaker. “Having followed parliament’s own processes and seen the concerns raised dismissed, I believe more needs to be done to ensure victims are properly supported, heard, and valued,” she said.
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