News
Report from the Expert Group on Preventing Sexual Offending Involving Children and Young People: Our Response
We welcome the Expert Group on Preventing Sexual Offending Involving Children and Young People and in particular the opportunity it provides to focus on the importance of prevention work.
The prevalence of sexual violence specifically affecting young people is of serious concern, and though young people of all genders can be affected by rape and sexual assault, young women in particular are disproportionately impacted. This issue is pressing and requires an urgent, collective response.
Since 2016 our evidence based primary prevention programme has worked with over 60,800 young people in 209 schools as well as youth groups, delivering vital education on consent and healthy sexual relationships. Together with young people we’ve unpicked the stereotypes and expectations that come with being a boy or a girl, the influences or pornography, and the pressures that come from the media and our communities. All of this is fundamentally important because Scotland must work to tackle the inequalities between genders and the causes of sexual violence before it happens, as well as working with individuals displaying harmful sexual behaviour.
As an organisation we could not support the change in the Children’s Hearing System that would mean all under 18s who are over 16 and not subject to a compulsory supervision order to be considered for referral to the Reporter, rather than automatically processed in the adult criminal justice system.
Currently as soon as a decision is taken for a young person charged with rape to be referred to the Children’s Hearing system, all bail conditions are dropped. There is a lack of information for victims, safeguarding and accountability and so our reasons for not supporting this move are grounded in the experience of those survivors who currently are subject to this approach and the inadequate response of the Children’s Hearing System.
For young survivors to learn that their perpetrator is back in their area through Snapchat or hearsay – and for there to be no appropriate safety measures taken in this regard – is a failure of those institutions who have a duty of care to both the survivor and the perpetrator. The issues of information for victims, safeguarding and accountability require to be urgently addressed before we could support any measures to extend the age limit.
Read more on the report, its findings and recommendations here.
16 Pounds for 16 Days
Press
Release | Rape Crisis Scotland | For Immediate Release
New figures show on a typical day in Scotland 1035 survivors of sexual violence were waiting to access ‘life-saving’ rape crisis support. This has almost doubled from last year, where a snapshot showed this figure stood at 582. In light of this news, Rape Crisis Scotland have today (Monday 25th November) launched their biggest ever Crowdfunding campaign.
Backed by Everyday Sexism’s Laura Bates, the charity argues that ‘no survivor should ever have to wait to access lifesaving support’ as it makes a public appeal to mark the annual international 16 Days of Action campaign against Gender Based Violence.
Recorded crime 2018-19 - Sexual crimes at highest level since records began
New figures on recorded crime released today show sexual crimes at its highest level since records began.
Statistics released by the Scottish Government show that whilst overall crime has risen by 1%, sexual crimes have jumped up 8%. Reported rape and attempted rape has more than doubled (increasing by 115%) since 2010-11.
Sandy Brindley of Rape Crisis Scotland said:
“These statistics should be a wake-up call.
“This significant increase in recorded sexual crimes mirrors previous years and has often – in part – been put down to more confidence amongst survivors in reporting to the Police.
“Firstly, we should be clear that these figures are just a drop in the ocean. We know that half of those survivors who access Rape Crisis have not reported their experience to the police.
“Secondly, though there has been a significant increase in reports, this is not mirrored by an increase in convictions, which means that across Scotland many survivors are left devastated and without justice. It also means a high likelihood that guilty men are walking free.
“Thirdly it should be noted that local rape crisis services are doing incredible work in the face of unprecedented demand. Too often survivors are forced to wait for this often life-saving support; to fix this quite simply local services need more money.
“We can’t keep putting this increase down to more survivors feeling confident in reporting without asking deeper questions, not least what their experience is when they do report.
“Survivors can’t wait any longer for justice.”
Facebook Page Name Change
This is a notification that the name of our official Facebook page 'RCS Campaigns' will be changed to Rape Crisis Scotland, reflecting the name and brand of our organisation and the breadth of our work beyond campaigning.
Guide to the criminal justice system for survivors of sexual violence: updated
Rape Crisis Scotland have today (Wednesday 10th July 2019)
launched an updated video guide to the criminal
justice system for survivors of
sexual violence, featuring key people that survivors will come into contact
with during the justice process.
This includes a specially trained police officer, a rape crisis advocacy
worker, a Procurator Fiscal, a defence lawyer, an advocate for the prosecution
and a judge.
Funded by the Scottish Government, the video is an accessible and comprehensive guide to a system that many survivors describe as complex and disorientating. It sets out clearly each stage of the process, who is involved and what their role is. It is hoped that – in addition to ongoing work to improve the justice system for survivors of sexual violence – the video will increase access to justice for crimes that are widely underreported.
RSSLatest posts
- Remembering Tansy Main
- Sex crimes in Scotland reach second-highest level in 54 years
- RCS calls for the Scottish Government and MSPs to work together to introduce key legislation for survivors of sexual crime
- Changes announced by the Sottish Government to the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill
- Landmark judgment on corroboration in sexual offence cases
