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Our statement on Adams vs Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre

As a national organisation working to end sexual violence, the needs of survivors are our priority.

Rape Crisis Scotland works with a network of 17 member Rape Crisis Centres across Scotland. Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre is an autonomous member centre and as such, Rape Crisis Scotland was not involved in any of the circumstances that led to the tribunal.

All member Rape Crisis Centres are signed up to working within UK-wide National Service Standards. These standards detail the high quality of service every survivor can expect to receive from a Rape Crisis Centre. Membership of Rape Crisis Scotland is based upon a shared commitment to, and evidencing of, the UK-wide Rape Crisis National Service Standards.

We have been concerned by some of the evidence arising from the tribunal suggesting that some practices at ERCC may have fallen short of these standards. An independent review into the practices and procedures at Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre has been commissioned.

We want to reassure survivors that their needs will be listened to and respected when they come to a Rape Crisis Centre for support, or for advocacy services. We recognise that the tribunal judgment will raise questions for some survivors about what they can expect when they come to a Rape Crisis Centre. We believe it is important that survivors are able to make informed choices about the services they access at Rape Crisis Centres, and we recognise that for some this includes choices about the gender and/or sex of their worker. We will be working with rape crisis centres across Scotland to consider the judgment and anything further we need to do to ensure survivors are able to access the services they need after being raped or sexually abused.

We are committed to ensuring that every survivor of sexual violence can receive support in a way which meets their specific needs, including the provision of dedicated times and spaces for women and girls to access Rape Crisis services across Scotland, and to providing support to anyone affected by sexual violence, including survivors who are trans or non-binary.