British Transport Police launch sexual assault victim support service

British Transport Police (BTP) say they are the first force to be able to offer a timely and a full support service to victims of serious sexual offences.

Victims of rape and serious sexual offences in England and Wales will be supported within 72 hours of their referral by BTP to fully trained Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVA).

BTP has joined forces with The Survivors Trust to ensure that every victim gets timely and appropriate support from specially qualified individuals, who will support them as a single point of contact from the initial report to the criminal justice outcome, ensuring their individual needs are met throughout.

Speaking at the launch in Reading Detective superintendent Sam Painter told us "BTP as a national force intersects every force in the country and there are different provisions in terms of these services provided nationally, we want to provide consistency to the victims we support who are the victims of the most serious sexual assaults."

The role of ISVA's help survivors understand their options and rights, and although they are referred to by BTP officers they work independently from the police and courts.

Christine Sharif from the Survivors Trust said: "We're qualified and trained specialists to kind of help and navigate victims of sexual violence to make sure they understand what their rights are, but we're there to kind of support that individual rather than be passed from 'pillar to post' we're that single contact."