News

Feb 2005

NEW RAPE CRISIS CENTRE LAUNCHED IN LANARKSHIRE - VAGINA MONOLOGUES

lanarkshire logo

"A LANDMARK FOR LANARKSHIRE" Chief Superintendent John Neilson

Women and girls in Lanarkshire who have been raped and/or sexually assaulted have a new service, launched on February 1 2005.

The brand new Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre was launched by River City star Jade Lezar, who said she was proud to support the much-needed service for female survivors of sexual violence.

Jade's character in the BBC Scotland soap opera is a teenager, Alanna, who has just revealed that she was sexually abused by her adoptive father.

Many survivors who call rape crisis centres are looking for support about childhood sexual abuse, sometimes dating back many years.

The new centre is based in Hamilton and the telephone helpline is initially open on Monday afternoons from 12 noon until 2pm.

The helpline telephone number is 01698 527003.

Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre is funded as part of a package of new money for rape crisis centres in Scotland, announced last year by the Scottish Executive.

Jade said at the launch that the character she played, Alanna, had gone through denial, anger and had resorted to lap dancing and was "a really mixed up young girl". She had really wanted Alanna to have support.

She added: "As soon as I heard about the Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre, I thought I'd like to do anything I can so young girls like Alanna can be helped."

The confidential helpline offers emotional and practical support to women and girls from the Lanarkshire area who have experienced sexual violence at any time in their lives.

Lily Greenan, manager of the Coatbridge-based EVA Project (Ending VIolence and Abuse) said she warmly welcomed the opening of the new centre.

She added: "We hope it will help to highlight the needs of women who have experienced a sexual assault and fill some of the gap in service for women.

"We look forward to working in partnership with the team at the rape crisis centre to promote and provide a more integrated service for women."

Sandy Brindley, National Development Worker with Rape Crisis Scotland , said that the new centre will “fill some of the clear gaps in the support available for women and girls in Lanarkshire who have been raped, sexually assaulted and/or sexually abused.”

Police figures showed there were more than 500 reports of rape or sexual abuse in Lanarkshire last year.

Chief Superintendent John Neilson said he is “haunted” that such a service is needed, but that the figures clearly show it is. He believed that the centre would empower survivors to live again.

He added: “The launch today of the Rape Crisis Centre is a landmark for Lanarkshire and accordingly recognition must be given to all the partners who, through working together, have ensured that our centre would be established. In particular, a special thank you to Sandy Brindley, who raised our concerns directly with the Executive.

“We all recognise that in terms of Rape and Sexual Assault a significant level of under reporting exists. The Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre will be essential to those survivors who choose to report and for those who choose not to.

“For those who choose to report to the police, my officers will now be able to signpost survivors directly to the centre. For those who do not, they will still be able to access the counselling and advocacy that they may so desperately need.”

Anne McGuire, manager of Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre, said: "For a number of years the Rape Crisis Centre in Glasgow has provided support to women from Lanarkshire. By identifying a need, the RCC played a vital part in this resource being established."

The new LRCC leaflet is available here.

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THE CELEBRATED ‘VAGINA MONOLOGUES’ IS BEING PERFORMED AROUND SCOTLAND IN FEBRUARY/MARCH.

The Eve Ensler play is on at venues internationally as part of V-Day. Many of the venues are universities and colleges as part of a separate but linked campaign.

So far 12 Scottish events are listed on the V-Day website. They are in: Aberdeen , Dundee , East Kilbride , Edinburgh , Elgin , Fort William , Glasgow and Peebles (with a couple of events in some areas, often at different universities).

These include, in East Kilbride, Purple Star Theatre, presenting The Vagina Monologues, in the Arts Centre, Old Coach Road, East Kilbride on the 18th and 19th of February at 8pm.

Two benefit performances of 'The Vagina Monologues' will also be performed at Aberdeen Arts Centre on 27th and 28th February at 8pm. Tickets are £9 and are available from the Box Office.Other venues include Heriot Watt University , in Edinburgh , and Dundee College .

More information about what is on where is at the V-Day website. http://www.vday.org/main.html

You can go to' V-Action' and then 'Find a v-event near you' and key in 'Scotland' and 'all events'.

The following information about V-Day is from their website…

V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery.

Through V-Day campaigns, local volunteers and college students produce annual benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues to raise awareness and funds for anti-violence groups within their own communities. In 2004, over 2000 V-Day benefit events were presented by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls.

Performance is just the beginning. V-Day stages large-scale benefits and produces innovative gatherings, films and campaigns to educate and change social attitudes towards violence against women including the documentary Until the Violence Stops; community briefings on the missing and murdered women of Juárez, Mexico; the December 2003 V-Day delegation trip to Israel, Palestine, Egypt and Jordan; the Afghan Women's Summit; the March 2004 delegation to India; the Stop Rape Contest, the Indian Country Project, and Love Your Tree.

In Africa , the Middle East , and Asia , V-Day commits ongoing support to build movements and anti-violence networks. Working with local organizations, V-Day provided hard-won funding that helped open the first shelters for women in Egypt and Iraq, sponsored annual workshops and three national campaigns in Afghanistan, convened the "Confronting Violence" conference of South Asian women leaders, and donated satellite-phones to Afghan women to keep lines of communication open and action plans moving forward. Beginning Fall 2004 from Cairo , V-Day will work in-depth to build networks ending violence against women and girls in Egypt , Sudan , Morocco , Tunisia , Algeria , Jordan , Syria , and Lebanon .

The V-Day movement is growing at a rapid pace throughout the world, in 76 countries from Europe to Asia , Africa and the Caribbean , and all of North America . V-Day, a non-profit corporation, distributes funds to grassroots, national and international organizations and programs that work to stop violence against women and girls. In its first year of incorporation (2001), V-Day was named one of Worth Magazine's "100 Best Charities." In seven years, the V-Day movement has raised over $25 million.

The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina.