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Coronavirus / COVID-19
During this difficult time, you may want to access some of the support and resources that are available for survivors of sexual violence. Find out more below.
It's normal to feel anxious, upset or stressed during a crisis. We also know that survivors of sexual violence may be facing further challenges during this difficult time.
Our member Rape Crisis Centres have moved lots of their face-to-face work online and there are many other ways of accessing information and support. See below for more information about helplines, services and online resources.
Helplines and webchat
Rape Crisis Centres provide specialist support and services for survivors of sexual violence, whether it happened recently or a long time ago.
The Live Chat Helpline
Our webchat helpline provides online, text-based emotional support for women and girl survivors aged 16 and over. It is an anonymous and confidential service. Find out more
The National Helpline
The National Helpline is provided by Rape Crisis South London. It offers confidential emotional support, information and referral details.
08088 029 999 between 12-2.30pm and 7-9.30pm every day.
Your local Rape Crisis Centre
Although face-to-face services are not currently available in many areas, many of our member Centres are still providing services by phone or online.
Contact your local Centre for more information
Online information and resources
We have lots of information and resources for survivors in our Get Help section.
Self-care is always important, but even more so at this time. We have self-care information for survivors.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, grounding techniques can help you feel calmer and more in control. Find out more about grounding
Safety advice for survivors living with a perpetrator
Some survivors are telling us and our sister organisations that they are feeling unsafe with the prospect of being isolated in the house with their perpetrator.
If this is the case, there are support and services to help you during this difficult time. You can get support from Rape Crisis or find out more information about support and services from the Women's Aid website:
Women's Aid: COVID-19/Coronavirus: Safety Advice for Survivors
Tips for social distancing
As well as our usual self-care tips and resources, the following things may help you while you are staying at home.
Stay connected
Although we need to keep physical distance from others, they are other ways to stay connected to our support network. Phone or videocall with friends or family - or contact one of our helplines.
Stay active
It may be harder to keep moving when social distancing, but it’s still very important. Go for one walk or jog a day if you can, do a home workout, exercise in your garden, or try a yoga video on Youtube.
Manage your news and social media intake
It's very easy to spend a lot of time reading the news or checking updates on social media. However, this can cause a lot of anxiety. Try and limit how much you do this.
Worry time
It's normal and understandable to be worried at this time. However, it's important to manage our anxiety about things we cannot control.
Some people do this by scheduling a controlled 'worry time'. This is 15 minutes that you set aside at the same time each day for your worries.
If you start to worry or anxious thought during the day, tell yourself that you won't worry about it there and then. Instead, reassure yourself that you will think about it during your scheduled worry time. Bring your attention back to the present - you can use a grounding technique or distract yourself with a different activity.
During worry time, allow yourself to worry. But if the problem doesn’t seem
important anymore, you needn’t spend time worrying about it.