Nearly 4 in 5 Rape Crisis centres are expecting a loss of, or reduction to, services due to desperate underfunding, reveals a new report by Rape Crisis England & Wales.
This funding crisis comes despite 41,000 referrals being made to our specialist member centres last year – and as more than 14,000 victims and survivors sit on waiting lists for Rape Crisis services across England and Wales. Three Rape Crisis centres have closed in under a year.
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The Rape Crisis Funding Crisis: a Survey of Managers and Directors – 6 monthly report surveyed managers and directors of Rape Crisis centres to gauge confidence, optimism and concerns relating to the funding and commissioning landscape.
The findings show that the funding crisis has been exacerbated by recent developments, including:
- Increases to National Insurance employer contributions.
- Cuts to police and crime commissioners' core victim’s funding.
- Existing grant funding being renewed without accounting for inflationary rises and increased costs, constituting a real term cut.
This is all despite the government committing to halving violence against women and girls in a decade.
Key findings
➡️ 59% of Rape Crisis centre managers and directors are expecting a reduction in their core funding.
➡️ Over three-quarters of Rape Crisis centre managers and directors are expecting a reduction or loss of service.
➡️ Over a quarter of Rape Crisis Centres are losing key staff members as a result of funding uncertainty.
“The [National Insurance] cost to our service for the coming year is an additional £30k, which is almost a post or certainly hours we could have used to provide frontline work.”
Director, north-east England
“If we are not successful with this tender, then we will have lost all of our core funding for sexual violence provision and are at risk of organisational closure.”
Director, south-east England
Recommendations
➡️ To mitigate for the National Insurance increases, Rape Crisis centres and other service providers should receive commensurate uplifts in funding.
➡️ To ensure the continuation of the sexual violence and abuse sector, the next commissioning of the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund, due in 2026, must remain a national fund that's centrally administered and multi-year.
Ciara Bergman, CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales, says:
"Our centres have struggled with chronic and acute underfunding for decades and we are now seeing the impact of the most recent real terms pay cuts to centres as a result of national insurance hikes and lack of corollary increase in grant funding come to fruition.
The closure of our centres is devastating for the survivors accessing their services, and the communities in which they’re embedded. It’s also a loss for the broader fight against male violence and women’s access to support and restitution.
Additionally, closure means the loss of highly specialist skills and expertise from our workforce, already overburdened and increasingly disillusioned. We’ve seen this in recent publications about the mental health of charity CEOs, and the challenges with recruitment and retention across the violence against women and girls’ sector.
The paradoxical reality is that whilst we recognise rape as being one of the most serious and devastating experiences for survivors, funding for support services is increasingly under threat.
Rape Crisis centres have been described as life changing, and in many cases, life saving for survivors. Their voices must be heard before it is too late."
Notes to editors
Rape Crisis England & Wales (RCEW) is a national charity working to end sexual violence and abuse. We provide specialist information and support to all those affected by rape, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment and all other forms of sexual violence and abuse in England and Wales. We hold the contract for the 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line.
RCEW is also the national membership and quality assurance organisation for a network of 36 independent Rape Crisis centres. Our specialist member centres provide wrap-around support for victims and survivors, including advocacy, counselling, emotional support and peer support services. We undertake policy and research in order to support the work of the Rape Crisis network and, ultimately, for victims and survivors.
Survey context
Between May and June of 2024, RCEW surveyed managers and directors of Rape Crisis centres. The short survey comprised of 10 questions. Of the 38 Rape Crisis centres at the time, 89% (34) completed the survey. To monitor developments across the Rape Crisis membership, RCEW ran this survey again between December 2024 and January 2025 with the same 10 questions, plus an additional question regarding police and crime commissioner (PCC) funding. Of the then 37 member centres, 86% (32) completed the survey.
Media contact
Kelly Bennaton, Communications and Marketing Lead at Rape Crisis England & Wales
Email: media@rapecrisis.org.uk
Mobile: 07714 254470