Rape crisis charity sees rise in people seeking support

Shetland Rape Crisis (SRC) supported 68 victims of sexual violence in the last year –  a rise of 17 over the previous year.

The charity today (Tuesday) published its annual report for the period 2020-2021.

It showed that 68 sexual violence survivors – 62 women and six men – were supported.

The majority of those, 44 people, were given support and counselling by SRC.

Most of those affected were first sexually assaulted before the age of 20.

Twenty-four cases were reported to SRC’s advocacy service, with the majority of service users reporting that the police response to them reporting a case had been “supportive”.

SRC chairwoman Siún Carden said it had been a “challenging” year for the service due to Covid.

“Shetland Rape Crisis has risen to the occasion, finding new ways of working to support survivors through this time and continuing to provide an excellent service despite unpredictable restrictions, periods of working from home and the extra pressures we have all experienced.”