Hackney gets its new rape crisis centre
(L-R): Kit Malthouse, Deputy Mayor of London for Policing; Karen Ingala Smith, Chief Executive of the nia project; Councillor Keith Prince, Leader of Redbridge Council; Councillor Shoaib Patel, Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety, Redbridge Council; Commander Jim Webster, Metropolitan Police
Victims of sexual assault can now benefit from a new rape crisis service for Hackney, part of the Mayor of London’s ongoing initiative to provide such centres across the capital.
The nia project, a Hackney-based women and children’s charity, will be providing the new service which includes support for those who have not reported their experiences to the police.
The service will work with those over the age of 14 who have experienced any form of sexual violence, whether historic or recent, including rape, childhood sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, prostitution, trafficking, domestic violence, genital mutilation and ‘honour’ based violence. Services provided include one to one counselling, support, group therapy, art and body therapies.
Karen Ingala Smith, chief executive of the nia project, said: “Rape and sexual assault is much more common than most people believe and happens far more often than official statistics tell us. We hope that the new east London service will mean that fewer people suffer the trauma of rape and sexual abuse alone.”
Earlier this year (March), Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, welcomed Boris Johnson’s announcement that he will honour his election pledge and fund three more rape crisis centres in London. She called for one of the centres to be based in Hackney.
Ms Abbott said: “Here in Hackney […] gang rape is a real issue. Many gang rapes are carried out by criminal gangs which means victims are often reluctant to go to the police. Rape crisis centres provide the help and support victims need without having to go to the police, and this provision is badly needed in my borough.”
Hackney councillor Sophie Linden, cabinet member for crime, sustainability and customer services said: “The council is committed to working with the nia project and neighbouring local authorities to help deliver this important service, which will provide care, advice and support to both Hackney residents and those living nearby who have been a victim of rape or sexual abuse.
“The Hackney centre is […] operating from the Women and Family service, and represents just one of a number of support mechanisms available to residents who have suffered or are suffering from violence or sexual assault.”
Rape Crisis services are not places for people to report crimes or places of forensic investigation. They are designed for those who have been a victim of rape or sexual abuse, either recently or in the past, to get the support they need to help them deal with their traumatic experience.
Those who use the service do not need to have reported their experiences to the police and research shows that many victims contact such services years, or even decades after they have been raped or sexually abused.
The service is part of a city-wide effort to improve support for victims by quadrupling Rape Crisis provision in the capital. Previously, the capital had only one centre in Croydon, forcing victims to travel extensively to seek out support.
Speaking this earlier this month, Mayor Boris Johnson declared four rape crisis centres in North, South, West and East London open. He also launched a new website, Rape Crisis London, to help victims access services and information about sexual violence.
“Nobody should feel isolated when coping with the terrible aftermath of sexual abuse, which can take years to overcome,” he said. “I’m tremendously proud to say that despite tough cuts we have delivered four Rape Crisis services across London.”
There were a total of 2,180 recorded rape offences in London between March 2008 and March 2009. (The Way Forward, Taking action to end violence against women and girls, the Mayor of London’s Final Strategy 2010-2013).
According to equality campaign organisation the Fawcett Society, the majority of perpetrators are known to the victim, and that women are most likely to be sexually attacked by men they know in some way: most often partners (32%) or acquaintances (22%).
The number of recorded multiple perpetrator rapes in London has increased from 71 in 2003/04 to 93 in 2008/09.
The term multiple perpetrator rape is used to describe rape offences involving two or more perpetrators. The Mayor of London’s report is based on the number of rape offences involving three or more perpetrators. A more common term used for multiple perpetrator rapes is ‘gang rape’.
London Rape Crisis helpline: 0808 802 9999.
The line is open every day of the year from 12 noon – 2.30pm and 7pm – 9.30pm.
I am not sure whether this report is based on a press release from Diane Abbot, but it is a misrepresentation of the situation.
First of all it is not a Hackney service, it is one of the four centres that are now operating in London so the correct title should be East London gets a new rape crisis centre.
The opening of these centres has absolutely nothing to do with Diane Abbot who during her unsuccessful term as advisor on women’s issues to Ken Livingstone did absolutely nothing about the issue of sexual violence against women. In fact Labour administrations have a history of closing rape crisis centres, the most infamous being the LBGS under the leadership of a Labour woman councillor that closed the original and ground breaking London Rape Crisis Centre.
So why Diane Abbot thinks she can hijack this story is beyond any comprehending. The issue of rape, let alone gang rape (isn’t she pandering to racist stereotypes about Hackney) should not be used by headline grabbing MPs with no real commitment to an issue.
Whatever the motive of the Tory administration now in City Hall, or whether it is to do with the successful lobbying of women’s groups, ironically it is Boris who now has a wider policy on violence against women than Ken’s limited domestic violence analysis.
Furthermore, it is due to the failure of the Labour Government that during the time they were in power that more rape crisis centres throughout the country closed than at any other time.
The consequence of this is that in London the successful “bidders” for the service the Boris regime is underwriting are the beneficiaries of Labour party patronage, women’s refuges. Whilst there is no reason to doubt that the services provided will meet the standards of Rape Crisis England and Wales it is fairly nauseating that political competition has led to this inappropriate system in London.
Women campaigners in other parts of the country have been more successful in lobbying local government and trust funds, and in the past 18 months a number of autonomous rape crisis centres have been set up in other cities.
Unfortunately the game playing and sectarian attitudes within local government policies have left London women’s charities voiceless and dependent on party political patronage.
Over and above the new web site for London Rape Crisis Centres as listed in the article, victims of rape (some centres are women only, some offer services to men) can be found listed on the Rape Crisis web site http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/centres.php
Another illustration of how the issue of sexual violence has become a party political pawn, the Coalition Government has decided that despite or maybe because of the amount of money the Labour regime put into SARCs (their preferred option for victims of rape, ie not services run by autonomous groups) they no longer list the contact details for these. An archive list for them can be found here but it may not be up to date. Rape Crisis (link above) suggest you ring NHS Direct to find one near where you live.
These centres (some are called Havens http://www.thehavens.co.uk) usually based within an NHS venue, provide a place where victims of rape can receive medical treatment and help provide evidence of the violence they have experienced, but they will NOT be pressurised to proceed with a case if they feel unable to do this. However, one advantage of this, is that it allows for evidence of a serial rapist to be collected.
Please also see page on Rape Crisis web site about what to do if you have been raped getting help http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/gettinghelp2.php
What a shame that shameless self publicist Diane Abbot has tried to hijack this story of persistence by dedicated campaigners to be something about her.
She has contributed less than nothing towards this.
And what a shame that Hackney Citizen should not have better contacts with grass roots organisations or is that only women’s organisations?
Poor Diane Abbott can’t catch a break from some people. Based on the info in the article above, she paid Boris a compliment and credited him for doing something. Yet a detractor says she’s “hijacking” a story? Hijacking would’ve been saying she was responsible for it or something similar. I actually respect her LACK of “sectarian attitude” in this instance. I’m not saying Abbott is perfect, but I think she did okay in this case.
It may not be a Hackney-only service, but it affects Hackney, this is a website that serves Hackney and she is a Hackney MP. Makes sense to me that she would comment. That she is a Labour MP yet chose to praise a Tory Mayor for doing something positive is refreshing.
I’m not saying Diane Abbott is perfect, far from it she is a total bloody waste of space