Victims Care

Victims are at the heart of our response to sexual violence and we are working with the voluntary sector, police forces, and other local agencies on a number of initiatives to improve services for victims. Further details of the full range of work in this area is included in the Sexual Violence and Abuse Action Plan under objective one - increasing access to health and support services for victims.

The specialist sexual violence and abuse voluntary sector play a vital role in delivering services to victims of these crimes, as well as helping other agencies to improve their victim response. The sexual violence and abuse voluntary sector are supported by two main umbrella groups - The Survivors Trust and Rape Crisis. Further information about these organisations can be found through the links to external sites.

Stakeholder Advisory Group on Sexual Violence and Abuse

The stakeholder group undertakes an advisory role to the government in relation to sexual violence and abuse. They have replaced and built on the work which was formerly undertaken by the Sexual Assault Referral Centre Advisory Group. However, in addition to this other experts on sexual violence also attend this. The group:

meets on a quarterly basis and is chaired by two ministers: Vernon Coaker from the Home Office and Caroline Flint from the Department of Health,
acts as a consultative body to the Government on the development of policy and practice on sexual violence, including prostitution, in relation to policing and prosecution, support services, health issues, prevention and awareness-raising;
relays information to and seeks feedback from members’ respective networks;
provides a forum where members can discuss new developments on the ground, or raise concerns at an early stage.

The core group has representatives from the specialist sexual violence sector including voluntary organisations dealing with recent and historic abuse, Sexual Assault Referral Centres, key academics and organisations supporting vulnerable or hard to reach groups.

Victims Fund - supporting the sexual violence and abuse voluntary sector

We are also committed to increasing the capacity and stability of the Sexual Violence and Abuse Voluntary Sector to deliver services to sexual violence victims. For the past three years the victims fund has spent around £5.25 million and a further £1.25m funding will be available in 2007-08.

For further information please click here

An Evaluation of 'STAR' Young Persons Project

The STAR Project (Surviving Trauma After Rape) aimed to provide a specialist counselling and support service to young people who were recent survivors of rape and sexual assault aged from 14 to 16 years. This report focuses on the findings of a 2-year evaluation of this service and makes recommendations for future support services.

To view the document please click here

The commercial sexual exploitation of children and young people: An overview of key literature and data

This review provides an accessible review of information relevant to the commercial sexual exploitation of children and young people in the UK. The report examines 3 main areas: abuse through prostitution, abuse through pornography, and the trafficking of young people to and through the UK for commercial sexual exploitation.

For more information please click here

Links

Links to some of the organisations that are representatives of the Stakeholder Advisory Group for Sexual Violence and Abuse