By Lucy Caulkett-
The Ministry Of Justice is awarding a funding boost to rape support centres across England and Wales with a 50 per cent funding uplift funding increase totalling £32 million over 3 years.
The welcome move comes in the wake of a number of complaints that rape offences are under reported and too few are are prosecuted in court, let alone successful. The Ministry Of Justice is aware of the complexities surrounding prosecuting rape cases and spending more to ensure rape victims get all the support they need to help overcome or minimise the scars of such a horrid ordeal.
The new funding is expected to expand the available money from £8 million to £12 million per year to a total of £32 million over three years for a range of services including tailored face-to-face support and counselling. This is on top of around £7.2 million injected into these centres to provide independent, specialist support to female and male victims of sexual violence, including victims of child sexual abuse.
The Ministry Of Justice(MOJ) said funding for victim support services has almost doubled since 2012/13.
”This year the ministry awarded about £92 million on these services. In 2018/19 we allocated around £7.2 million to these centres to provide independent, specialist support to female and male victims of sexual violence, including victims of child sexual abuse” the MOJ said about how seriously it is taking the importance of supporting rape victims.
However, its contribution to the Home Office’s modern slavery contract funding has now been directly transferred to the Home Office. The funding Over 160,000 sexual offences were recorded by police last year. The funding is set to ensure help for victims is available in all 42 of the country’s Police and Crime Commissioner areas.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales About 20% of women and 4% of men have experienced some type of sexual assault since the age of 16, according to the Crime Survey for England. This is equivalent to an estimated 3.4 million female victims and 631,000 male victims
SEXUAL VIOLENCE
The government said that the announcement today will also see a £1 million investment to recruit more Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) across the country, who provide advice and support for victims and act as the link between police, support services and criminal justice agencies
Rape support centres across the country have been offered the 50 per cent uplift in funding. The uplift is guaranteed over a 3 year period, providing centres with stability and security so that they can focus on delivering services victims so desperately need.
Victims Minister Wendy Morton MP said:
”Rape and sexual violence are devastating crimes and victims must have the confidence that support will be there when they need it.
That is why we have increased funding twice already to ensure no victim is left to suffer alone. We know there is more to do, but through the Government’s Victims’ Strategy we are continuing to improve the support on offer at every stage of the justice system.
Katie Russell, spokesperson for Rape Crisis England & Wales, said:
Rape Crisis England & Wales is pleased the Ministry of Justice has increased its Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund.
With demand for Rape Crisis support, counselling and advocacy services continuing to rise, this gratefully received funding increase is a welcome contribution to the increasing need for specialist services among victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, rape and all forms of sexual violence.
This lift is the second time we have increased funding in the last year to the Rape Support Fund, bringing it to £12 million per year from April. The increase will allow our local services to plan for the future – offering them stability and security so that they can focus on delivering services that victims so desperately need.
The increase will allow our local services to plan for the future – offering them stability and security so that they can focus on delivering services that victims so desperately need. The move builds on new laws brought in by this government that will ensure serious violent and sexual offenders spend longer behind bars – ensuring the public and victims are protected from these heinous crimes”.