Rape Crisis England & Wales is starting a new project to better capture the combined impact of our network of Rape Crisis Centres.
Our 36 members provide specialist support across England and Wales to adult and child survivors of sexual violence and abuse, alongside outreach, education, advocacy and national systems improvement.
About the Rape Crisis EAF project
The project is in partnership with the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU) at London Metropolitan University, City St George’s University, Bangor University and Hull University.
It is being funded through the Cabinet Office’s Evaluation Accelerator Fund, a competitive grant fund which supports research and evaluation projects, and which this year has been designed to improve the evidence base around Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
This project focuses on the combined local-national Rape Crisis model and its contribution to the wider response to sexual violence and abuse. It will identify survivor-centred outcomes and measures that can support future evaluation of how specialist services contribute to wider responses across sectors, including health, policy and education.
What this means for Rape Crisis centres
Working closely with member centres, survivors and evaluation experts, this project will develop the foundations for future evaluation through stakeholder engagement, evidence review and theory of change development. It will assess the feasibility of economic evaluation and identify the data and methods required to deliver a future large-scale impact evaluation.
What this could mean for the Rape Crisis movement
By establishing the foundations for future evaluation of the Rape Crisis model, it will enable government, funders and commissioners to make better-informed decisions about the effectiveness, value and future development of specialist VAWG services and commissioning frameworks.
Ciara Bergman, Rape Crisis England & Wales CEO, said:
“We’re delighted to be bringing together this partnership and shaping the work alongside members, survivors and a group of research experts. The Rape Crisis movement has for decades contributed to supporting survivors and preventing sexual violence at individual, community and national levels; this project will help us evidence the value of our approach and articulate our impact more clearly. We welcome the Cabinet Office’s commitment to understanding what works and for whom in responses to sexual violence”.
Professor Fiona Vera-Gray, CWASU Co-Director, said:
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to think together with women at the forefront of sexual violence about the real difference that Rape Crisis Centres make. We have gathered an incredible academic team with expertise across VAWG, health, and economics, all of whom are deeply committed to finding ways to truly represent the work of the movement.”