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When we talk about sexual violence, we must remember that survivors are in the room.
'When you say “I’m a survivor” everybody just stops in their tracks and doesn't know how to communicate with you. They could have known you for like, months and months and had great conversations but the minute you mentioned that it's like “oh, how do I talk to you?” I think that's down to the media because we aren't having that proper conversation.’
This comes from Lisa, a member of the Survivor Reference Group (SRG). The SRG is a diverse participation group of over 50 survivors from across Scotland who advocate powerfully for change, drawing on their lived experience with individuals and institutions to improve responses to sexual violence.
"To all of the women and girls out there, I stand with you" - Reflections From A Survivor
"My journey to speak with the Justice Committee yesterday has been a long and tiresome one.
It was clear to me as soon as the opportunity arose through Rape Crisis Scotland that I needed to be involved. In a previous life, I have been known for my clarity of thought, my influencing powers and calmness under pressure. However, in this chapter that I find myself, with this version of myself, I knew that I could not have a professional air as I described my experience of the Scottish Justice System so far.
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women '21
This blog is dedicated to the women of the Survivor Reference Group who so powerfully shared their stories in the Scottish Parliament yesterday. Thank you for your courage and determination. Your belief in a better world is inspiring.
Today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and marks the start of 16 Days of Action. It’s been a year like no other, a year that feels as though it has both flown past and dragged and one where our collective resilience has been tested like never before.
It’s been a hard year for most of us, an impossible one for many, and whilst the impacts of Covid continue to be acutely felt the launch of yet another 16 Days of Action invites reflection.
It’s been a painful year for survivors of sexual violence and abuse. At times the public conversation has felt more like an onslaught with relentless coverage of violence and abuse. The tragic murders of Sabina Nessa, Sarah Everard and Esther Brown sparked nationwide conversations about women’s safety and our right to live free from the constant fear and threat of sexual violence. Survivors have spoken bravely and powerfully about their experiences and called for change.
International Women's Day 2020
One of the things we often hear when we say we work with Rape Crisis is that must be so hard. It must be so hard to be surrounded by all of that trauma.
In truth it can be hard. Knowing the scale of harm caused by sexual violence in Scotland and beyond can weigh heavily. Improving responses to rape and sexual assault is no small task, it means creating a society that responds to survivors with compassion, holds perpetrators to account, and it also means trying to redesign systems – including justice systems – to make them compassionate and truly just. For us it also incredibly difficult to sit with the knowledge that many people who need specialist support face an unacceptable wait to access life-saving services. We never, ever want to turn someone who needs us away.
But it’s important to say that in our work we are reminded every single day of the strength, resilience and downright determination of women and of survivors. Rape Crisis is built on the shoulders of women who stepped up for one another when nobody else wanted to listen. And listen these women did, sometimes on landline in a cupboard used as a helpline of sorts, shared amongst a community of women resolute that if a survivor needed someone to speak to then they would answer. Rape Crisis Centres were built because women worked every single hour under the sun and more to make it happen; fundraising, lobbying, and at times pleading because they knew the value of a safe space for survivors.
These days our helpline infrastructure is considerably better, but the significance of there being a number to call where survivors will be believed, listened to and supported is unaltered. Rape Crisis in Scotland is a safe space for survivors in a world that can feel hostile and uncaring. We know because so many survivors tell us: Rape Crisis saves lives.
Against all odds (and the expectations of those men who have spent a lifetime underestimating women) over time Rape Crisis became a movement, and a powerful one. We are a movement that has changed lives and laws. We have witnessed and protested extreme injustice and we have challenged power. The progress we have made in Scotland is testament to the work of women – survivors and workers together for there cannot always be a distinction – resolute that a better, safe and fair world is possible.
Across 17 local centres in Scotland women are working to support survivors of all genders, they are working in schools and universities to prevent violence and helping survivors to navigate complex institutions and systems from courtrooms to healthcare. Demand for our services is unprecedented, and funding has not kept up, but still our message to survivors would be to reach out and ask for support. We won’t always be able to give that support immediately and that is not right or fair – we are working hard to change this – but you are worthy of support. You deserve a space to process what you’ve experienced, no matter what happened or when. We believe you.
In the last year the Survivor Reference Group have met with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Lord Advocate to share their experience to drive change, members have helped to shape the Forensic Medical Services Bill and will soon give evidence to the Health and Sport Committee at the Scottish Parliament. Those survivors involved privately and those who have spoken publicly do so because they don’t want anyone to go through what they’ve been through, and also because they want those who have already to know that they are not alone. We are so grateful for the work and advocacy of the Survivor Reference Group – they are making a real difference.
So, this International Women’s Day we want to say that we are grateful to all those women working and volunteering as part of the Rape Crisis movement who do so yes, because we are angry about the injustice of sexual violence, but also because we believe that it doesn’t have to be this way. This is not inevitable.
Our vision is for a safe, equal and just Scotland; today and every day we celebrate all those who are grafting to make this a reality.
Speaking Truth To Power - The Survivor Reference Group
A blog to mark the publication of the Survivor Reference Group Initial Report.
Last week we sat in a room in Glasgow and as sunshine poured in through the windows survivors delved into the details of where the justice system in Scotland had let them down. These conversations aren’t unusual for us at Rape Crisis Scotland – justice is one of our key priority areas – but what made this conversation out of the ordinary was that looking on and listening in were Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf and the Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC.
It was a meeting of power, though of very different kinds. Where the Justice Secretary and Lord Advocate have both a great deal of responsibility for justice in Scotland and power in terms of how this is – and is not – delivered, survivors were there to speak truth to it. In doing so with strength, courage and vulnerability, each of them showed the power of stories and of speaking out to effect change.
It can never be right that the process of seeking justice following sexual violence in Scotland is described by some as worse than the assault itself. We know that it is never going to be easy, but we also know it doesn’t have to be this hard.
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