Half of Rape Crisis services expect to make cuts, despite growing demand from children’s social care

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That was among the findings of a Rape Crisis England & Wales (RCEW) survey carried out from May to June 2024, responded to by 34 of its 38 members.

Rape Crisis centres provide counselling, advocacy, peer support, helpline and other services to victims and survivors of sexual violence, chiefly women and girls.

Growing demand from children’s social care

RCEW said centres supported 88,000 victims/survivors in 2022-23, a quarter of them children, while it added that the number of referrals from children’s social care services was growing, along with demand from statutory mental health services and GPs.

However, 47% of centres were expecting a reduction in their core funding, with most of the rest saying that they did not know whether this would happen. As a result, a similar proportion were planning to reduce services.

Four in ten (41%) were expecting a reduction in counselling services, while 35% were anticipating a reduction or loss of independent sexual violence advocacy (ISVA) services.

Almost a third (30%) were concerned that their centres would close.

RCEW said the situation was the result of multiple funding sources from police and crime commissioners and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) coming to an end in March 2025, chief among them the rape and sexual abuse support fund (RASAF).

It also said that centres suffered from “a chronic lack of funding from NHS England”, despite high levels of demand from the NHS, while members also reported a lack of resource from councils.

Services ‘face closure’

“It’s vital that survivors of rape and sexual abuse can access independent, quality assured and specialist sexual violence and abuse services, like those provided by Rape Crisis centres, whenever and wherever they are needed,” said RCEW chief executive Ciara Bergman.

“Many people assume that such services will always be available, but without funding, many face closure.”

The new Labour government has committed to halve levels of violence against women and girls within the next decade.

Bergman urged ministers to continue funding for the RASAF to show its commitment to this objective and “to recognise the marginalisation and chronic underfunding of sexual violence and abuse services”.

If you are aged 16+, live in England and Wales and have been affected by rape, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment or any other form of sexual violence at any time in your life, you can contact RCEW’s helpline on 0808 500 2222 for free and 24/7. There are also helplines for Scotland (0808 801 0302) and Northern Ireland (0800 0246 991).