A recent survey conducted by Rape Crisis England & Wales shows half of Rape Crisis centre managers and directors are expecting a reduction or loss of service.
Between May-June 2024, Rape Crisis England & Wales (RCEW) surveyed managers and directors of Rape Crisis centres to gauge confidence, optimism, and concerns relating to the funding and commissioning landscape for specialist sexual violence services. Of the 38 Rape Crisis centres, 89% (34) completed the survey. The findings from this survey illuminate and underscore the severity of the imminent funding cliff edge.
Key survey findings show:
- 47% of Rape Crisis centre managers and directors are expecting a reduction in their core funding.
- Half of Rape Crisis centre managers and directors are expecting a reduction or loss of service.
- 41% are expecting a reduction in counselling services.
- 35% are expecting a reduction or loss of advocacy (ISVA) services.
- 30% of Rape Crisis centre directors are concerned that their centre is at risk of closure.
- One third of managers and directors expect to issue redundancy notices in the next 12 months.
- Over half of centres (56%) are already taking different routes to increase funding.
The anticipated reduction of services and loss of Rape Crisis centres comes at a time when demand continues to increase; last year alone, Rape Crisis centres supported over 80,000 victims and survivors of sexual violence and abuse, a quarter of whom were children. This year, centres are already oversubscribed - nearly 14,000 survivors are waiting for a service, and the latest analysis of Rape Crisis waiting list data revealed that over 80% of those on waiting lists were waiting for specialist counselling services.
In the last decade, the Ministry of Justice established the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF), a precious ring-fenced fund solely for quality assured sexual violence and abuse services. In a highly precarious funding landscape, this has offered Rape Crisis centres some stability. However, with no official commitment to extend or recommission the RASASF past March 2025, Rape Crisis centres face the agonising uncertainty of a funding cliff edge and must plan accordingly.
A further contributor to the current crisis is the confluence of multiple different sources of funding coming to an end, with no promise of extension or recommission, and a lack of cross-departmental funding, particularly from health. This is despite high levels of referrals from children’s social care, GPs, and statutory mental health services to Rape Crisis centres, which adds strain to already underfunded services without providing funding to alleviate this pressure.
The longer-term instability is in part, from the severe marginalisation of the women and girls’ sector when it comes to the allocation of resources within the charity sector.
Ciara Bergman, CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales, said:
“It’s vital that survivors of rape and sexual abuse can access independent, quality assured and specialist sexual violence and abuse services, like those provided by Rape Crisis centres, whenever and wherever they are needed. Many people assume that such services will always be available, but without funding, many face closure.
As an urgent first step, Rape Crisis centres require an immediate commitment from the new Government to extend the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund as well as funding for key advocacy workers supporting survivors through the criminal justice system. This would provide an ideal opportunity for new Ministers to put into practice their commitment to halve VAWG in the next decade, and to recognise the marginalisation and chronic underfunding of sexual violence and abuse services.
Our survey of managers and directors shows the stark risks around funding uncertainty - they simply can’t afford to wait for a lengthy spending review to conclude in order to find out if they can continue their life-changing and in many cases life-saving work.”
RCEW recommend:
- The immediate extension of the RASASF (including in the devolved areas).
- A commitment from the MoJ to increasing and recommissioning the RASASF for at least 3 years.
- Health commissioners and local authorities recognising and part-funding Rape Crisis services.
- The implementation of a cross-governmental funding strategy to ensure specialist service provision for sexual violence and abuse survivors.