Clwyd West MP, David Jones, has welcomed the launch of the 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line, which offers free and confidential emotional support to all victims and survivors of rape and sexual abuse over the age of 16.
The 24/7 emotional support and listening service will provide victims and survivors who have experienced any form of sexual violence at any point in their life with access to specially trained advisers via telephone and webchat, with additional resources available online.
Where appropriate, the service will point them to specialist support such as Independent Sexual Violence Advisers, Sexual Assault Referral Centre and local Rape Support Centres. Having access to support means that survivors are much more likely to feel believed and are less likely to suffer long- lasting trauma. Victims who speak to an Independent Sexual Violence Adviser are 49 percent less likely to withdraw from the criminal justice process. The more support a survivor receives, the more offenders will be brought before the courts.
David Jones said:
“Rape convictions in 2021 were up by two thirds compared to the year before, and custodial sentences for this crime have increased by nearly two years in the latest year. But there is much more to do – and ensuring that all victims and survivors of rape and sexual violence have access to quality support, appropriate to their needs, when they need it is a key part of the work being done to tackle rape and serious sexual assault.
“Having access to help at any hour of the night or day will mean that no survivor is ever left without somewhere to turn. Anyone who contacts the service will be listened to, believed, and supported to make their own choices about what they would like to do next.”
The 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line is available via telephone on: 0808 500 2222 and online at: 247sexualabusesupport.org.uk .
