Award for sexual violence self-referral scheme

The trio at the South Yorkshire Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) were runners-up in Mountain Healthcare’s Quality Improvement Project Awards.

SARC is based in Sheffield, but helps women, men and children around the county.

Kathryn Fletcher, Nadia Cox and Ninda Randhawa investigated public awareness of SARC and its self-referral pathway, which allows victims to seek help without reporting their experience to police.

They found that fewer than one in 12 people asked would contact SARC for help, if they were to suffer sexual violence.

The trio developed a project to promote self-referral, helping victims to feel confident about accessing sex crime support, and their awareness campaign will soon launch across South Yorkshire.

Kathryn, who lives in Rotherham, said: “We are very pleased that some people feel comfortable in reporting their experiences to the police and, as a result, get the help and support they need from us.

“However, rape and sexual assault crimes are still under-reported and many people just aren’t aware of our SARC services or how to access them.

“We recognise that people may not wish to report their experiences directly to police.

“It might be because they have criminal convictions, or because they don’t trust the police for whatever reason.”

The SARC conducted sex attack counselling at Rotherham Hospital until April 2015, when it lost the contract to another provider.

Since then, staff have been seeking new ways to reach and support victims.

Kathryn, Nadia and Ninda were recognised for their efforts by Mountain Healthcare, which runs a dozen similar centres around the country.

Kathryn said: “We’re dedicated to raising awareness of the SARC self-referral pathway, to ensure everyone receives the healthcare, support and guidance they need.

“We’ve been going to colleges and universities and had disclosures of abuse from students, so the profile-raising is definitely working.”

Victims of sexual or domestic abuse can make an appointment to visit SARC at Hackenthorpe Lodge, Sheffield, without involving the police.

Support workers and specialist nurses will offer emotional and practical help, including collecting and preserving evidence.

Ninda, of Sheffield, added: “If someone has been through a sexual assault, we can give them emergency contraception, we can give them medication for HIV prevention and refer them to counselling services.

“All the support that that person needs — we can give it to them under one umbrella.

“We don’t even need to take a name — we can just identify that person by a case number.”

For more information about SARC and Hackenthorpe Lodge, visit www.hackenthorpelodge.org or email [email protected].