Download Sexual Violence Current Issues

Rape Crisis (England and Wales)
Sexual Violence
Current Issues
The Work of Rape Crisis (England and
Wales)
• Rape Crisis (England and Wales) is the national network of rape crisis
centres.
• We were established in December 2003.
• The Board of Trustees provide support to members and pro-actively raise
awareness of the issues facing rape crisis groups.
• Campaign for secure funding for the sector and inform national work on
the experiences of the women that use Rape Crisis services.
• To become a member of Rape Crisis (England and Wales) a group needs
to:
–Define itself as a Rape Crisis Centre
–Provide specialist, dedicated services to women/girls who have
experienced rape and/or other forms of sexual violence, as children or as
adults.
for more information www.rapecrisis.org.uk
Rape Crisis
• Voluntary but professional – specialist service provision by experienced
qualified staff
• Each centre responds to an average of 2,331 calls each a year
• Service user led – no time limited service provision
• 81% of women who contact Rape Crisis Centres contact us about an
incident that happened more than a year ago.
• 87% were raped or experienced other sexual abuse by someone they
knew.
• Around 70% of service users are adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse
with approx 30% having experienced a recent incident as an adult.
• 18% had reported the rape to the police.
• 93% would need additional health and mental health interventions if they
were not being supported through Rape Crisis.
Prevalence and disclosure
• One in four (24%), women had experienced some form of sexual assault in
their lifetime
• In 2005 there were over 14,000 reported rapes in UK and Wales and an
estimated 80,000 unreported rapes.
• More than half of all rapes of women (54%) occur before age 18
• Women who are raped before the age of 18 are twice as likely to be raped
as adults
• 91% of women who have been seriously assaulted will tell no-one at the
time
• Almost half (47 per cent) of those who disclosed experiences of sexual
violence in the Savi study reported that they had never previously
disclosed that abuse to others – when asked why they hadn’t previously
disclosed, the overwhelming response was that no-one had asked...
• Most people who disclosed sexual violence did so to friends (71 per cent)
or family members (43 per cent). Family members were more likely to be
told in the case of child sexual abuse.
Why women aren’t reporting
• Fear of not being believed - ‘without consent’ police officers
assume that 23% of rape allegation are false compared to the
actual figure – 3% (a Gap or Chasm)
• Not naming the event as rape (and/or crime)
• Fear of blame or judgement
• distrust of the criminal justice system
• Reporting rape seen by many women as re-victimisation
• Least likely to report where the perpetrator is known (85.7%)
• Fear of further attack or intimidation
• ‘Real rape’ (stranger 8%) vs date and acquaintance rape
Crisis in Rape Crisis
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Funding!! “why fund a service when they can refer for free?”
National service standards
Tendering and commissioning
1984 there were 68 centres, in 2007 there are 38 affiliated
member groups
Postcode Lottery of service provision – the luck of the draw?
The average waiting list is 3-4 months with some women
having to wait longer than that
Reduced service provision
Staff redundancies (coordinators)/reduced salaries/unpaid
Staff and service user uncertainty = low morale/undervalued
Targets for DV but not SV
The cost of sexual violence to the
public purse
• 2003/4 estimated cost of sexual offences was 8.5
billion
• With each rape costing over £76,000
• World Health Organisation estimate that up to 60%
of women in the UK mental health service
population have been sexually abused in their
lifetimes
• 20% use health in the first year – by the second year,
50% are ‘embedded’ in the health system (Dr
Maureen Dalton)
Campaigning and Lobbying
• Local groups – Regional Networks - Rape Crisis Coordinating Group
• Rape Crisis and WNC working group (and SV
subgroup) campaigning and lobbying Government
(Home Office and DH) to include sexual violence in
Public Service Agreements
• Cross Government Stakeholders Group on Sexual
Violence (and funding subgroup)
• Supportive CDRPs lobbying government for local
targets on sexual violence
Outcomes
• Cross Government Sexual Violence and Abuse
Action Plan and Implementation Guidance
• Public Service Agreements 23 and 24 which
specifically mention sexual violence
• National Indicator 26 – ‘Specialist support to
victims of a serious sexual offence’ PSA 23
• PCT Commissioning Guidance for Sexual
Violence and Abuse services
Cross Government Action Plan on Sexual
Violence and Abuse (SVAAP) and its
implementation guidance
• Sets out how the Government plans to deliver
on 3 key objectives on sexual violence and
how local delivery partners can measure their
performance on:
1. Increasing access to support and health
services
2. Improving the criminal justice response
3. Maximising the prevention of sexual violence
Public Service Agreements
• Represent the Government Priorities for
public services for three year periods
• Backed up by National Indicator Set (NIS) of
200 Performance Indicators to monitor
delivery
• LA responsible and accountable for delivery
PSA 23: Make communities safer
• Reduce the most serious violence, including
tackling serious sexual offences and domestic
violence
• Recognition of psychological harm
• Recognition that serious violence is more
often a cause and consequence of inequality
PSA 24: Deliver a more effective,
transparent and responsive CJS for
victims and the public
• Key principles to guide delivery:
1. effective in bringing offences to justice
2. the public confident and engaged
3. the needs of victims at its heart
4. simple, efficient processes
Public Service Agreements
PSA 24 cont’d
• Local Criminal Justice Board responsible for
overseeing delivery of a co-ordinated
approach
• Rape Performance
• Victim satisfaction
Local Area Agreements
• Three year agreement between a local area
and central government.
• Regional Government Offices in negotiation
with LSPs agree LAA priorities for action and
resources
• Describes how LA intend to deliver on national
priorities and respond to local need.
• Local groups need to engage with LAA leads to
ensure that PSA directives are included
Engaging with LAAs
• Find out who the is Lead on your Local Area Agreement
Partnership Board (you should be able to get this information
from your Local or District Authority)
• Contact them for an invitation to the next meeting.
• Sexual (and domestic) violence are ‘cross cutting issues.
Specifically target statutory agencies that fall within priority
areas i.e. crime, health, safeguarding adults etc and contact
the LAA leads for those.
• Find out if your LAA will be having Gender Equality Impact
Assessment (this means that the targets/indicators and
budget will have to be assessed in line with the Gender
Equality Duty)
Implementation of SVAAP
• Local Partnerships
• Delivery Agencies
To deliver services in line with the 3 objectives:
1. Prevention
2. Victim Care
3. Criminal Justice
Implementation of SVAAP
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Will include such things as:
Sexual Violence Forums
Local Sexual Violence Action Plan
Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVA)
Multi-Agency Training
Funding sexual violence voluntary sector
PCT and LA Commissioning Guidance
Rape Performance
RAPE CRISIS (ENGLAND & WALES )
Angie Conroy – Policy Officer
www.rapecrisis.org.uk
Based at SERICC
www.sericc.org.uk
01375 381322