Devon rape crisis centre calls on Government to provide long-term funding for the sector

A local rape crisis centre is asking why the Government is not listening to the voice of experts.

Ministers have recently unveiled their strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.

They say they will be taking immediate steps to improve safety by increasing support for victims and survivors, increasing the number of perpetrators brought the justice, and to reduce the prevalence of violence against women and girls in the long-term.

But Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Services says street lighting and CCTV in the streets at night "isn’t going to transform the problem".

CEO, Caroline Voaden, tells Greatest Hits Radio that it is about "education, attitudes, behaviour and the criminal justice system":

"The Government keeps saying 'our Police and Crime Bill is going to address this (the criminal justice system) by making sentences longer'; but let’s not forget that only 1.6 per cent of rapes that are reported to the police end up with a charge, so not very many of those rapists end up in prison.

"The very, very, very few that do might end up with a longer sentence, but we need a whole scale cultural reform of the police and justice system so it stops examining women’s credibility when they report a rape and it starts focusing on investigating perpetrators."

Caroline says the victims they see often feel shame and blame themselves because they did not fight their attacker off.

She says proper education is the way to tackle "misogynistic attitudes and behaviour" and that it needs to be "absolutely embedded" in the school curriculum:

"We need to talk to our young people and get them to see right from the get go that the only person who’s responsible for rape is the rapist, it’s the perpetrator, nobody else is responsible for it.

"We need proper funding for experts in the sector to support schools. So what I’m trying to do in Devon is roll out some training to local schools so they feel more equipped to deal with something that is happening everywhere. I don’t really have the resources to do that, but we think it’s really crucially important, so we will try and make it happen."

The Government has said it will be taking some immediate steps to improve safety for women and girls. This includes:

• A new national policing lead on Violence Against Women and Girls who will report into the Home Secretary-chaired National Policing Board. They will also be the point of contact for every police force to ensure best practice is shared and that progress on improving the response to these crimes is being monitored

• A review of options to limit use of Non-Disclosure Agreements in cases of sexual harassment in higher education

• A £5 Million ‘Safety of Women at Night’ Fund, in addition to the £25 million Safer Streets Fund Round 3, that focuses on the prevention of violence against women and girls in public spaces at night, including in the night-time economy. This could include targeting parks and alleyways, and routes from bars, restaurants and nightclubs as we see a return to the night-time economy

• Criminalising virginity testing, which some women and girls are being forced to undergo, to send a clear message that this practice is wholly unacceptable in our society

• Appointing two new Violence Against Women and Girls Transport Champions, to drive forward positive change and tackle the problems faced by female passengers on public transport

Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Services offer confidential, professional support to survivors of rape, sexual assault and childhood sexual abuse in Devon.

"The support we offer to people every month isn’t going to stop, so there’s no reason that we can’t have long-term funding for our sector because it’s not something that’s just going to stop being needed at the end of the financial year." - Caroline Voaden, CEO

If you need to get in touch with them, their anonymous helpline and email service is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday 6.00pm - 9.00pm.

Please call 01392 204 174 or email support@devonrapecrisis.org.uk.

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