Rape Crisis Scotland

A new issue of Rape Crisis News for Winter 2011/12, looking at various aspects of the Scottish criminal justice system's response to rape.

The Rape Crisis Scotland Annual Report for the financial year 2010- 2011

As the rape crisis movement in Scotland movement celebrated its 30^th anniversary in 2006, Rape Crisis Scotland decided to undertake an oral history project, and recorded a total of 33 interviews with women in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and further afield.

This document puts together the testimony of many of the women who were involved in the earliest years of the development of a rape crisis movement in Scotland, and tells the story of why and how it emerged, and what it meant to them to be part of this unique piece of Scottish herstory.

Note

This document is by no means an exhaustive account of the experiences of women who were involved in Rape Crisis in Scotland during its first 15 years. There are many women whose names and contributions remain unrecorded but who nevertheless played just as significant a role as the women whose testimony is documented here. Their words pay tribute to the determination, resilience, ingenuity, courage and compassion of all the women whose monumental efforts forged the Scottish Rape Crisis movement which continues the fight against sexual violence today.

Rape Crisis Scotland Annual Report 2010

Examines concerns around the way in which disclosure of personal records is used in sexual offence trials and in particular the impact of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2010 on this issue.

Takes account of the latest version of the Crown Disclosure Manual.

RCS commissioned this research against a backdrop where there have been long standing concerns about the response of the Scottish legal system to complainers of sexual offences. Women in contact with rape crisis centres do not speak highly of their experience of the justice process. Particular difficulties arise in relation to their status as a witness of the crime perpetrated against them, and the role of the Crown Office in acting in the public interest: women consistently tell rape crisis that they feel throughout the process that there is no one representing their interests.

This report considers the features of Scottish criminal procedure and evidence that exacerbate the problems currently facing complainers and that shape the response the criminal justice system can currently make. It explores how independent legal representation operates in other jurisdictions and considers the feasibility of its introduction in Scotland.

Introduction to Rape Crisis Scotland support services in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Polish, Punjabi, Slovak and Urdu

A report on what has been happening with the Rape Crisis Scotland service during 2009

An overview of the impact and use of sexual history and character evidence in sexual offence trials, and of the effectiveness of legislation currently in place which was intended to limit this.

Report on testing carried out by Progressive on behalf of Rape Crisis Scotland prior to the running of the campaign

Rape Crisis in Scotland: issues, resources & aspirations: RCS timeline; Interview with Stewart Maxwell; RCS National Helpline; Glasgow Rape Crisis – Interview with Isabelle Kerr; WRASAC Perth & Kinross; Interview with DCI Louise Raphael; Sexual history & character evidence