Our commitment to survivors of sexual violence and abuse
Rape Crisis England & Wales and our member centres believe that every adult and child who has experienced sexual violence or abuse deserves access to free, independent and specialist support after rape or any form of sexual abuse.
Collectively, we work towards a future in which survivors in England & Wales can access - and make informed choices about - support that meets their needs, no matter who they are, or when it happened.
To do this, we provide:
- The national 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line.
- A network of quality-assured Rape Crisis Centres offering specialist support and advocacy for adult and child survivors.
- Independent Sexual Violence Advocates, who support survivors through the criminal justice process.
- The forthcoming Independent Legal Advice Scheme for survivors going through the criminal justice system.
- A wide array of individual and group-based recovery and wellbeing initiatives.
We also accredit our members against the Rape Crisis National Service Standards (2024), which recognise the benefits of women-led services, and ask all our members to ensure they provide women-only spaces within their centres.
Importantly, this does not mean that Centres cannot support male survivors or gender diverse people; indeed, many do. It does however mean that Centres must ensure that designated spaces exist within their centres which are open only to women.
The Equality Act 2010, and changes to statutory guidance
In April 2025, in the For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers case, the Supreme Court ruled that the terms “man” “woman” “male” and “female” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex, irrespective of whether a person holds a Gender Recognition Certificate.
Thereafter, the Equality and Human Rights Commission updated its Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations. This guidance came into force on 5 August 2026 and, whilst it is not law in itself, it is statutory guidance which explains how service providers such as Rape Crisis Centres should apply the Equality Act 2010, including their duties to prevent unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
Rape Crisis England & Wales has been supporting our Member Centres to understand the law and this guidance. This is a complex task in a context in which every Centre has its own governing documents, local partnerships and commissioning arrangements. Severe underfunding means that Centres must contend with very difficult decisions about who they can help, and how.
The clarity which the Supreme Court ruling and Code of Practice have now provided means that some of our Member Centres have either changed, or may now need to change, how they provide or describe their services, or who can access them.
What this means for survivors
We know that potential or actual changes to much-needed, yet under-resourced, services like Rape Crisis Centres, as well as offensive and divisive discourse surrounding these topics, can cause distress and uncertainty amongst survivors, those running services, and the general public alike.
Rape Crisis England & Wales and all our members are committed to ensuring that every survivor:
- Receives a trauma-informed response and is treated with dignity, compassion and respect.
- Can find accessible and up to date information about the services available to them, what they can expect from those services, and any limits on that provision.
- Can make informed choices about the support they choose to access.
- Is offered appropriate onward referral wherever possible, if a Centre cannot meet their needs.
We will continue to support our members to understand their legal responsibilities, communicate changes clearly and keep survivors’ needs at the heart of their decisions.