Help for young people
You don't have to suffer in silence if you're a victim of crime
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While some young people are responsible for crimes, many more are victims. As a young person you're at increased risk of being a victim of crime than most adults - but unfortunately this problem is all too often overlooked by all the hype about young trouble-makers.
Here at Victim Support we take the issue of crime against young people very seriously. We want to raise awareness of just how common and how serious attacks on young people are. And we're working hard to do more ourselves to support young victims.
How we can help
If you’re upset or worried about a crime it can really help to talk to someone. Maybe someone is bullying you, hurting you or has stolen something from you. Perhaps you're not the victim but you know that a friend, or someone in your family is having problems. If so then Victim Support can help you.
We have volunteers right across England and Wales who are trained to give you help and support. They'll listen to you, talk through what has happened with you and help you decide what you want to do next. They'll also explain how things work in criminal justice and give you information to make the right choices for you after a crime.
We think it is better if you can tell your parents what has happened but we understand that sometimes you can't. If you want, we can help you talk to your parents about what has happened. But if you don't want them to know we can support you confidentiality. The only time we would let other people know without your permission is if we were seriously concerned that you or someone else might be put at risk if we failed to take action. There's a bit more information about this at the end of the page.
Many of our teams are developing specialist services for young victims, so get in touch with your nearest office to see how we can help you cope with crime.
If you're being abused...
If you're being abused by an adult - maybe a family member or a stranger, you need special help. Victim Support doesn't focus on this kind of crime but works closely with other organisations such as the NSPCC and Childline to help stop abuse of young people. You can find out more about how these organisations will help you by clicking the links on the right.
A word about bullying...
The word bullying is used to describe all kinds of horrible behaviour between young people. The reality is that many of the things that are passed off as bullying would be treated as crimes if they happened to adults. We take bullying seriously and will help support you if you come to us about bullying problems. You can also find out more about bullying from specialist organisations such as Beatbullying.
Telling the police
You don’t have to report the crime to the police to call us - we'll support you all the same. We can help you make a decision about reporting the crime by telling you about the consequences and benefits of informing the police. That way you have the information you need to make a decision that's right for you.
If you do decide you want to tell the police what happened to you, we can help you do it, for example by going to the police station with you. We can also help you to talk to other people, like your teacher or parents if you want. If the case goes to court we can support you there too.
Help at court
If the police get involved after a crime, there is possibility that it will result in a court case. If that happens, you might be called as a witness. A lot of people are worried about that, which is why we created our Witness Service to support people who have to give evidence. And if you're a young witness, the court can do things to help make the experience easier for you - such as using TV links or screens so that you don't have to see the offender face-to-face in the courtroom. We can help to arrange this kind of help for you.
Are you ok?
We have a separate for young victims called Are you ok? It's got more information for young people and there's some activities for schools, colleges and youth groups to find our more about crime and how it affects people. We want to redevelop this site so if you have ideas for how to make it better, please send us a message using the box on the left.
Get help now!
One of our volunteers can help you at home, in our office or over the phone. You can contact our local offices directly or email or call the Victim Supportline on 0845 30 30 900 for more information.
The 'small print'
We offer a confidential service but we do sometimes have to share information if a young person tells us something that makes us think they may be at risk of harm. If you want to talk to us completely anonymously, you can call our Supportline without giving your name.
For some of the most serious crimes, we may only be able to support you if you are over 13, and sometimes – but not always – we have to get a parent or carer's consent first. But if you worried about any of this we can explain it in more detail if you get in touch with us.