Rape Crisis Scotland

For survivors of rape and sexual assault - includes information on safety, health, reporting to police, claiming compensation, feelings and reactions, ways of coping, police and legal procedures, further links to help and information.

A report on what has been happening within Rape Crisis Scotland during 2012. This contains the most detailed statistical information published by us to date on the nature and extent sexual violence experienced by survivors contacting rape crisis centres in Scotland.

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.

Drawing on recent research conducted in Scottish criminal courts, this article discusses the evidencing of sexual crimes through victim testimony. Despite significant reforms, complainers in sexual offence trials still find the process traumatic; the amount of sexual evidence introduced into the trial has increased; and the nature of such evidence draws on pervasive and outmoded rape myths.

Yes You Can! has been developed for people working with, or likely to be working with, survivors of childhood sexual abuse. People present to frontline services with a range of issues which may relate to childhood sexual abuse and this booklet has a particular focus on the impact that childhood sexual abuse can have on mental health and wellbeing. Not all survivors need, or wish, medical intervention, and many seek counselling and support services. This booklet aims to support people working in a wide range of services to gain a better understanding of the needs of people who have experienced childhood sexual abuse, how best to raise this sensitive issue, and how to respond in an appropriate andsupportive way.

Recent Home Office research indicates that complainants in sexual offence cases still struggle to gain credibility in the eyes of police, prosecutors and jurors. This article examines some of the credibility barriers confronting victims of sexual offences within the criminal process. In the USA, prosecutors
have utilised expert witness testimony in an effort to educate jurors and restore credibility to complainants’ accounts. This article critically assesses these developments and explores the potential admissibility of ‘educational’ expert witness testimony in criminal courts in England and Wales.

Intimate partner and sexual violence affect a large proportion of the population – with the majority of those directly experiencing such violence being women and the majority perpetrating it being men. The harm they cause can last a lifetime and span generations,with serious adverse affects on health, education and employment. The primary prevention of these types of violence will therefore save lives and money – investmentsmade now to stop intimate partner and sexual violence before they occur will protect the physical, mental and economic well-being and  development of individuals, families, communities and whole societies.

This document aims to provide sufficient information for policy-makers and planners to develop data-driven and evidence-based programmes for preventing intimate partner and sexual violence against women and is divided into the following chapters:

l Chapter 1 outlines the nature, magnitude and consequences of intimate partner and sexual violence within the broader typology of violence.

l Chapter 2 identifies the risk and protective factors for such violence and the importance of addressing both risk and protective factors in prevention efforts.

l Chapter 3 summarizes the scientific evidence base for primary prevention strategies, and describes programmes of known effectiveness, those supported by emerging evidence and those that could potentially be effective but have yet to be sufficiently evaluated for their impact.

l Chapter 4 presents a six-step framework for taking action, generating evidence and sharing results.

In the closing section, several future research priorities are outlined and a number of key conclusions drawn.

The evidence-based prevention of intimate partner and sexual violence is still in its early days and much remains to be accomplished. At present, only one strategy has evidence supporting its effectiveness – and this only relates to intimate partner violence. The strategy in question is the use of school-based programmes to prevent violence within dating relationships. Evidence is, however, emerging of the effectiveness of a number of other strategies for preventing intimate partner and sexual violence, including microfinance programmes for women combined with gender-equality education; efforts to reduce access to and harmful use of alcohol; and changing social and cultural gender norms. Many more strategies appear to have potential, either on theoretical grounds or because they target known risk factors, but most of these have never been systematically implemented – let alone evaluated.

The public health approach to prevention taken in this document is intended to complement criminal justice-based approaches. The approach relies upon the use of population-based data to describe the problem, its impact and associated risk and protective factors, while drawing upon the scientific evidence for effective, promising and theoretically indicated prevention strategies. Part of the approach is also to ensure that all policies and programmes include in-built monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. At the same time, taking a life-course perspective will help to identify early risk factors and the best times to disrupt the developmental trajectories towards violent behaviour using a primary prevention approach. For successful primary prevention, early intervention is required that focuses on younger age groups.

Although pressing, the need for evidence and further research in all these areas in no way precludes taking action now to prevent both intimate partner violence and sexual violence. Those programmes that have evidence supporting their effectiveness should be implemented and, where necessary, adapted. Those that have shown promise or appear to have potential can also play an immediate role – provided strenuous efforts are made to incorporate at the outset rigorous outcome evaluations. It is only by taking action and generating evidence that intimate partner and sexual violence will be prevented and the field of evidence-based primary prevention of such violence will successfully mature.

A guide produced by ENABLE Scotland in easy-read format for adults with learning disabilities who have experienced sexual abuse. It describes what sexual abuse is, how people can protect themselves from abuse and what they can do if they have been abused.

The booklet, prepared by ENABLE Scotland, is for parents, carers or support workers of adults with learning disabilites. It covers how to support someone who has been sexually abused and lists sources of help and support.

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.

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

Rape, sexual assault & the law in Scotland; Vulnerable Witnesses Act; Interview with Gerry Maher, Scottish Law Commission; VIA; Crown Office Review; SARC

Two New Rape Crisis Centres; Women’s voices, women’s lives – Drugged and raped; Cool feminism