Rape victims urge others to report rape and take control

Rape victims urge others to report rape and take control

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A 50-year-old woman from Greater Manchester is backing the Report Rape and Take Control campaign after she bravely reported her ordeal to the police, following years of abuse by her father as a child.

Rachel (not her real name) from South Manchester wants to help GMP and its partners to encourage other victims to come forward and remind them that it’s never too late to report, or get the help and support available.

“For a variety of reasons, many incidents of rape go unreported, so we are launching this campaign to encourage people not to suffer in silence and give people the confidence to come forward and report it by highlighting the help and support available”, said Detective Superintendent Phil Owen of Greater Manchester Police’s Safeguarding Vulnerable Persons Unit.

GMP receives in the region of 850 reports of rape a year, while St. Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) provides support and counselling for approximately 1,000 clients each year, around 90 men contact Survivors Manchester and 1,400 women contact Manchester Rape Crisis.

“Although these figures show that many people have confidence in reporting rapes to either the police or a support organisation due to the successful service we provide, we know that many other victims are still suffering in silence. So the message of this campaign is that regardless of when the incident happened, tell someone and get the help and support you need”.

“Over the past few years we’ve made massive improvements to the way that we investigate and deal with rape cases to ensure that we provide the best possible service to victims and bring the offenders to justice.

“I want to reassure victims who haven’t yet reported a rape that GMP treats every report seriously, with specially trained officers and the support of the Independent Sexual Violence Advisor services, to help and support victims from the initial report, throughout the investigation and during court proceedings.”

Greater Manchester is nationally recognised as a model of good practice in terms of support services available to victims, but GMP and its partners aim to continually improve the support services available.

Dr Catherine White, Clinical Director at St Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre, said: “St Mary’s SARC provides a service for people that have been raped recently or in the past. It is for men, women and children and provides not just access to a forensic examination, health screening and crisis support but can also support people through on going counselling for as long as they need it.”

Duncan Craig, Founder of Survivors Manchester, said: “Since founding Survivors Manchester, over 18 months ago, we have been working hard with our partners at Greater Manchester Police, St Mary’s SARC, Manchester Rape Crisis and Manchester Victim Support, to identify the barriers that victims and survivors face in coming forward and speaking out. As a survivor-led organization, we know first hand the trauma, impact and legacy of sex crimes and want people in OUR amazing city to see that this partnership is leading the way in supporting people to take back the power and reclaim control of their own lives”.

As part of this campaign, two posters, one aimed at male victims and the other aimed at female victims, will urge them to ‘Report rape, take control and don’t suffer in silence’ and will be distributed throughout Greater Manchester. Both posters will feature the contact details for St Mary’s SARC, which provides a specialist service to all victims of serious sexual offences across the county.

For more information go to www.facebook.com/ReportRape2010 or follow the Greater Manchester partnership on Twitter @ReportRape2010.