Different yet complementary: Two approaches to supporting victims of sexual violence in the UK

Abstract

This article explores the strengths and limitations of two different types of settings that provide specialist support to victims of sexual violence in the UK: Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) and voluntary sector organizations such as Rape Crisis. Qualitative data from six case study sites and quantitative data from 35 sexual violence projects in England and Wales revealed that the type of setting affected the types of referrals received and this, in turn, shaped the services required by victims and thus the nature of the work preformed. Consequently, each type of project had different emphases in their workload with which they were particularly well equipped to handle. Each type also had its own unique challenges; for example, while there were notable benefits from delivering support in partnership models, such as SARCs, their affiliation with statutory partners was perceived by some as a disadvantage, especially for those seeking support in relation to historical sexual abuse. On the other hand, those delivering support in voluntary sector projects had to work harder to establish and maintain relationships with other agencies, but their independence was seen to be greater and this was perceived as a strength for gaining access to victims and maintaining their confidence. Both approaches had notable benefits and, given the diverse array of sexual violence victims in any given area, providing these two different, yet complementary, approaches to supporting them is recommended.

The identification and treatment of mental health and substance misuse problems in sexual assault services: A systematic review

“…Of the 107 papers included in the review, some were relevant to more than one of our three review questions. For review question one, we included 78 publications providing information on how sexual assault services address mental health and substance misuse [20, 24-26, 33-106]; for review question two, we included 6 papers of five trial evaluations [84,89,92,[107][108][109]; and for review question three, we included 34 studies on stakeholders' views [20,25,34,37,44,53,54,60,62,72,78,82,86,90,93,94,97,[110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126] and 10 policy documents [20,22,[127][128][129][130][131][132]…”

“…We found 34 papers [20,25,34,37,44,53,54,60,62,72,78,82,86,90,93,94,97,[110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126] relating to 32 studies, which reported stakeholders' views on how sexual assault services should identify and respond to mental health and substance misuse problems for people following sexual assault. Twenty five were peer-reviewed publications [25,34,44,53,54,60,72,78,82,90,94,[110][111][112][113][114]…”

“…Twenty five studies [20,34,37,53,62,72,86,93,94,97,110,[112][113][114][115][116][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126] reported more general perspectives and recommendations by stakeholders regarding service organisation or delivery within sexual assault services, with relevance to the experience of people with mental health and substance misuse needs. Characteristics and recommendations of each study are provided in the data supplement (S5 File).…”

“…Regarding treatment, sexual assault services should offer a "one-stop-shop" multi-agency service that provides holistic support. Service users' social and emotional needs should be addressed as well as medical and forensic needs [20, 86,93,94,113,116,118,[121][122][123][124]. A need was identified for specialist support within sexual assault services for LGBT clients [86,125].…”

Medical Neoliberalism in Rape Crisis Center Counseling: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Clinicians’ Understandings of Survivor Distress

“…Rape crisis centers (RCCs) have provided vital support to sexual assault survivors since they were established in the United States in the 1970s via grassroots efforts to combat an oppressive patriarchal culture (Campbell & Martin, ; Maier, ; Robinson & Hudson, ). RCCs are often the frontline of services for survivors, providing crisis intervention (e.g., crisis hotline), medical and legal advocacy, and counseling services through a multidisciplinary team that often includes professionals and volunteers (Baker & Bevacqua, ; Campbell & Martin, ).…”