News

Interim Service for Survivors of Sexual Violence in Highlands

Following the closure of the Rape and Abuse Line in the Highlands, Rape Crisis Scotland is working with The Highland Violence Against Women Partnership and the Scottish Government in developing plans to establish a new, stand alone, Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse service in Highland within the next 12 months.

While this new service is being developed and established we have developed a partnership between local services and the national Rape Crisis Scotland helpline to ensure that survivors in Highland can get support.  This includes telephone, email and face to face support.

The national Rape Crisis Helpline will provide short term and crisis support by phone and email, act as a sign post to local services in Highland for survivors, and will also be able to provide longer term telephone and email support to those living in Highland affected by the issues. The helpline number is 08088 01 03 02 and is open daily from 6pm – midnight. 

If you have any questions on this interim arrangement, please get in touch with sandie.barton@rapecrisisscotland.org.uk.

The internet makes it very easy for people to connect quickly with others and to find out and send very personal information. It also allows people to hide who they really are and what they are doing. Some people use the internet to harm others - this could be someone they know or a stranger. Online technology is featuring increasingly as a factor involved in some instances of sexual violence reported by survivors and can also facilitate and aggravate different forms of abuse, including stalking, grooming, controlling and bullying.

Rape Crisis Scotland's new resources are aimed at parents & carers, children & young people, and people engaged in dating or conducting relationships online. These resources may be augmented in the future to include others aimed at different user groups. We are committed to keeping up to date with developments in this area and will continue to update our resources and website accordingly.

Sexual violence & the online connection
Any form of sexual contact which someone does not agree to is sexual violence. Anyone who does not respect another’s privacy, who will not leave them alone, who posts embarrassing or threatening statements about them, or ‘shares’ photos online without their permission is being abusive. These are just some examples of how online activity can be used to facilitate abuse.

Perpetrators of sexual violence and abuse are always responsible for it. Taking risks or doing something that made them vulnerable does not mean that those they target have caused or invited the abuse to happen.

For more information or for hard copies of the new resources, please contact info@rapecrisisscotland.org.uk.