Minister for Women Harriet Harman has announced up to £1 million in emergency funding towards keeping Rape Crisis centres open, following a campaign by newstatesman.com in conjunction with Rape Crisis calling on the government to provide proper funding for the group’s work helping victims of sexual violence.
Speaking at Haven, a Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Camberwell, south London, Harman said: “Rape Crisis England and Wales has done an important job in alerting us to the funding challenges faced at a local level by these rape crisis centres. We’ve stepped in with this emergency funding to help stop them from closing, while we sort out the longer term.
“Rape is one of the most devastating offences for victims. It violates the basic right of women, men and children to be treated with dignity and respect.”
The number of Rape Crisis-affiliated centres in England and Wales has nearly halved from 68 to 38 since 1984, with five closing in the past five years. More than two-thirds of centres describe their current funding situation as “unsustainable”.
Funding in England and Wales has also lagged behind Scotland, where the Scottish executive has set up “ring-fenced” resources to provide for new Rape Crisis centres where there are currently no existing ones.
In a statement, Rape Crisis Chair Dr. Nicole Westmarland told newstatesman.com that the announcement, agreed across several government departments, was “highly significant” and called for the funds to be released immediately.
“This clearly shows how well all of the government departments can work together to take responsibility for the support and well-being of victims of sexual violence by ensuring that the specialist provision that Rape Crisis has delivered for over 30 years continues,” Westmarland said.
Rape Crisis also praised newstatesman.com for its “highly thought-provoking month-long campaign”.
But Jo Wood of Rape Crisis in Merseyside warned that the extra funds would only provide “breathing space” for the next 12 months.
“We know we are not reaching all the survivors who need us. With sustainable funding, we can reach so many more women who have no recourse to such specialised services and help them to recover their independence and move on with their lives,” Wood told newstatesman.com.
“Right now we spend far too much of our time chasing funding. We can never plan beyond the next few months. Survivors of rape deserve better treatment than this. It needs to be a priority not an afterthought.”
Sign our Downing Street petition and write to your MP to ensure the long-term funds needed by Rape Crisis are made available.
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