Women urge Brighton council to provide better support to rape survivors

[IwantToRetire]

A deputation of women plans to call for better support for rape survivors at a Brighton and Hove City Council cabinet meeting this afternoon (Thursday 17 October).

The key points were included in agenda papers published before the cabinet meeting which is scheduled to start at Hove Town Hall at 4.30pm.

The deputation said: “For those of us who have experienced sexual violence and live with the trauma of it, single-sex counselling services are crucial.

“In learning the lessons of the recent Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre debacle … any publicly funded service here in our city must necessarily place the needs of survivors as paramount.

“In Edinburgh, we now know that female survivors, desperate for single-sex services, were labelled bigots and their pleas were stored in a folder marked ‘hate emails’.

“In our city, female survivors of sexual violence like me have already experienced a devastating breach of trust at the hands of our male attackers.

“But when we turn to council-funded services only to be told that no single-sex services will be offered our trust is betrayed all over again. This is unforgivable.

“When rape survivors are being denied services simply because they need to know men will not be present something has gone very wrong in this city.

Article continues at https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2024/10/17/women-urge-council-to-provide-better-support-to-rape-survivors/

(Not sure what happened at the meeting - anyone got updates?)

OK, I'm going to be told this is an irrelevant point. But "rape SURVIVORS"? I'm apparently an S.A. survivor. This makes it sound as if most women don't or won't "survive" being S.A.d.
Another nail in my coffin.

Many people "survive" a serious car crash. That doesn't mean their lives aren't changed forever.

Most organisations these days dealing with people who have experienced abuse/trauma etc describe survivors rather than victims. I work with people who have experienced sexual abuse/assault and nearly all prefer survivor to victim. If someone didn't want survivor, I would if course refer to them however they wished.

I take your point, but as a woman who was raped by my ex i much prefer survivor than victim. I find it more empowering.

I completely respect that you’re not comfortable with that and you absolutely have to right to use a different term, however, I don’t think we should really be criticising other women who prefer to call themselves survivors

I hope you get some answers to your question OP. I'm keen to know what happened at the meeting too.

So do I. I came to this thread eagerly hoping for an update but ...

On the other hand I do hope women in other areas take this as an example of how you can use what has been exposed in the case of ERCC as being the standards by which services for women survivors should be judged.

Found this is the comments in response to the article:

BHCC fund Survivors Network and Brighton Women’s Centre. Neither offer single-sex trauma services because they, like our council, regard males who identify as women to be present in those spaces. The brave woman who read out her deputation yesterday tried (as this paper has reported), repeatedly, to be heard by BHCC and was told her views were “offensive”. That she was finally, 9 months later, granted an opportunity to be heard was a step forward. However, if anyone cares to listen to the reply given by Cllr Daniel on the webcast every single point raised in the deputation is ducked.

I wonder if this was Sarah?

Also looked for the "webcast" but cant find it.

I agree, if the term "survivor" is preferred. MAYBE "rape survivor" is suitably strong, I just think "S.A. sufferer" or just "been S.A.d" gets the message home.
But I realise this is an emotive subject and it should be 'each to her own'. I also realise that I shouldn't be spending time discussing such things. Unfortunately my experiences (both with the S.A. and other body problems) have made me question everything!
Very sorry to hear what happened to you.

I'm wondering if those women can sue the council for breaching the equality act and their right to survivor led services.

I think that is or will be part of Sarah's case against Survivors Network.

And think their funders should also be sued.

In case no one saw this on the other thread about trying to log what are the "agreed" standards for Rape Crisis provision. More funders should be aware of them and ensuring those the fund abide by them.

Rape Crisis National Service Standards

The 2024 Rape Crisis National Service Standards (RCNSS) are a set of specialist quality standards for organisations delivering sexual violence and abuse support and advocacy services from a feminist perspective.

They were developed by Rape Crisis England & Wales, in partnership with Rape Crisis Scotland.

To meet the 2024 RCNSS, organisations must be independent, community-based and trauma-informed. They must also demonstrate that they provide confidential, specialist services to victims and survivors of all forms of sexual violence and abuse from a feminist perspective.

First produced in 2008, the RCNSS have been developed and adapted over time to ensure that they continue to align with current best practice. They were most recently refreshed in 2024, with funding support from the Home Office.
^https://rapecrisis.org.uk/about-us/national-service-standards/^

Core Standard
The organisation meets and adheres to Rape Crisis England & Wales or Rape Crisis Scotland membership criteria and is defined as a specialist Rape Crisis service.

Core Indicator Indicative evidence
The organisation is a Registered Charity, Company Limited by Guarantee (not for profit), Community Interest Company, Charitable Incorporated Organisation or Industrial and Provident Society – Community Benefit Society and so adheres to the principles and expectations of The Charity Commission (England & Wales) or The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (Scotland).

* The organisation is women led and is committed to remaining women led.
* The organisation strives to maintain and develop services that meet the needs of survivors in their area who have experienced any form of sexual violence at any time in their lives.
* The organisation works from a feminist perspective that recognises sexual violence as a crime of violence, an abuse of power, and as a cause and consequence of gender inequality.
* The organisation provides and protects dedicated spaces and times for women and girls to access services.
* The organisation has a clear commitment to anti-racism and is working towards or already takes an actively anti-racist approach to working with survivors, staff and volunteers.

Indicative evidence
• Standard 0 underpins the criteria for membership of Rape Crisis England & Wales and Rape Crisis Scotland. For further information about the evidence required to meet the criteria for membership, please contact your national body.The organisation has as its primary or major purpose to deliver services to women and girls who have experienced any form of sexual violence at any time in their lives.
(Only the first page from a longer documents)
https://rcew.fra1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media/documents/Rape_Crisis_National_Service_Standards_2024_kVE2WFp.pdf

Yes, I wondered if Sarah was involved.

I always thought SA "survivor" was used because of the suicide statistics?

Karen Ingala Smith uses "victim-survivor" because she knows that women who have experienced rape have different views on which they prefer. It is a thorny area.

That aside, it is absolutely depressing that women who have been through rape have to fight for something as basic as single-sex services.

Has anyone heard of any other groups of women challenging their local council re funding for women only services (actual women) whether rape crisis or refuges.

Withe the number of posters of FWR it would be good to think that women would be prepared to do this is their area.

By the way I am not uninterested in a discussion about suitable words to use, or agreed phrases, but there would probably be a wider discussion if it had its own thread, rather than one about a specific council being challenged about funding.

This is why Sarah’s case is so important and why so many women on FWR have contributed to her legal fund. If her case establishes sex discrimination where the option for single sex services has been removed it enables all of us to challenge funders and providers of our local services. Sarah is fighting the good fight for so many women & girls.

A group of women held a vigil outside Hove Town Hall before a full council meeting to highlight the lack of single-sex trauma support services in Brighton and Hove.

The gathering this afternoon (Thursday 24 October) was led by campaigner Allison Hooper, wearing a scold’s bridle – an old-fashioned instrument of punishment – to highlight how she felt silenced by Brighton and Hove City Council.

Ms Hooper applied three times to address the council’s cabinet about the lack of services for survivors of male violence against women and girls despite the Equality Act allowing for them.

Last week, she finally addressed cabinet members, telling them that rape survivors were “self-excluding” from support services because providers could not guarantee that a man would not be present.

...

“We do believe the organisations named in the deputation behave safely and in a trauma-informed way.”

https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/politics/council/protests-by-group-of-brighton-criticise-lack-of-single-sex-support-services-4839677

re the last sentence, either they are outright lying, or that simply are somehow not able to grasp that women only means women only in the biological sex. All the groups names are trans inclusive.