Reclaim the Night aim # 1
Help Victim Support Organisations.
Rape Crisis centres provide long-term support, advocacy and counseling to women and girls who have suffered historic abuse, such as childhood sexual assault. The impact of sexual violence is often enduring and far reaching and these centres help to provide the long-term care needed to help women and girls recover from sexual violence.
There are Rape Crisis centres all over Britain, but they are seriously under-funded and the Women's Resource Centre reports that in 1984 there were 68 Rape Crisis centres in England and Wales and today there are just 38. These essential providers of counseling and support services have to scrape around for funding to stay open. Women can wait months to see a counsellor and men and ethnic minority groups can find it very difficult to locate and access resources. They deserve proper funding so they can concentrate on helping more people. In the long term we need proper, national funding from the Government so existing Rape Crisis centres can continue their work and new centres can open. £5m is needed each year.
Bristol City Council's Safer Bristol Partnership dedicated funding for a Rape Crisis Centre in Bristol, to open in 2009 and funding is secure for a further 3 years. This centre is important to us and will provide a vital service to people in Bristol and the surrounding areas. We celebrate the commitment and funding by the Council but want to make sure this literally life-saving service will be funded for years to come.
Actions:
Let the Council know that this centre is valued and that you hope they will continue to fund it. There is a dedicated campaign by the Women's Resource Centre called Crisis in Rape Crisis.
Practical help is still needed at the service at the Bristol centre. If you are interested in supporting Rape Crisis Bristol as a volunteer, fundraiser, with practical help in the office, as a campaigner or on the helpline, please email info@bristolrapecrisis.org.uk for more details.
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