Rape Crisis England & Wales, the Survivors Trust, and We Are Survivors have written to the government to warn them that without their immediate commitment to sustainable funding, vital support services across the UK may have to close.
The letter was signed by over 70 other frontline and membership services, including our own Rape Crisis centres, who warn that without action, tens of thousands of survivors of rape and sexual abuse will be left without the specialist support they need to recover.
The services at risk are vital, and often provide urgently needed specialist care to survivors who may not be getting help elsewhere in the community. For survivors, these support services can be life-saving – especially for the vast majority who will never report to the police.
Yet without immediate funding, the future of these services remains perilously uncertain.
Ciara Bergman, our Chief Executive Officer, said:
“Together with all other services delivering sexual violence and abuse services across the UK, Rape Crisis England & Wales joins the call for the work we do and the survivors we support to be recognised in the upcoming VAWG strategy and associated funding commitments.
Many people assume that specialist care and support, delivered independently and in the community, will be available to those who need it after rape or sexual abuse. But the reality is that this will not always be the case.
The work our centres do, and the people they work with, are amazing. We want to be there for them for as long as we’re needed, whilst working towards a longer-term end to rape and all forms of sexual abuse”.
Download the letter below.