Campaign aims to end shame around sexual violence

A charity that supports survivors of sexual violence has launched a new campaign called Shatter the Shame, to fight any negative stigma and encourage people to seek help.

Peterborough Rape Crisis Care Group said its work had supported more than 1,300 people over the past year.

Kayleigh Adams, 23, a marketing executive at the charity, organised the new campaign after she said she realised a lot of survivors of sexual violence still "feel guilt and shame" over what they experienced.

As part of the campaign the charity will be holding drop-in session every Wednesday in November at Peterborough City Hospital where specialist staff will be available to offer support.

The charity was set up in 1983 and offers confidential support including therapeutic services and independent sexual violence advocates (ISVA) offer practical support.

One of the charity's therapeutic services is called Sense, which provides help around stabilisation, education, normalisation, social support and engagement for survivors. As part of the service a social meet-up is held every Thursday at the city's East Community Centre.

Sense has had more than 1,600 referrals since it was launched three years ago.

Some of the victims said staff members were "patient" and "empowering", and one survivor said, "I felt my voice is being heard".

Heather Birch, the charity's centre manager, said: "We get a lot of word-of-mouth advocacy, and it shows confidence in our services is going up.

"We give hope for recovery to survivors and together with our clients we work out their recovery pathway."

Shamaila Mushtaq is an ISVA at the charity and works across ethnic minority groups. She said the organisation faces several barriers when helping survivors, such as language and cultural stigma.

"Reporting to the police, families finding out, attending court [thinking] what might be said about personal my life. These are concerns in a survivor's mind.

"Sexual abuse or even sex isn't spoken about much in these ethnic communities. So getting people to talk about it is the biggest barrier.

"For some religion is a big barrier. When it comes to sexual abuse - there is confusion- can my husband rape me? Do I need to have sex with him when he wants it?

"You don't want to go all guns blazing and say this is not OK. It has to be addressed sensitively. The message is for them to know they won't be judged.

"Seeds have been planted. It is a slow process, but change is happening."

Nicole Dench-Layton, from the charity, said people who engage with the organisation's for help were "reassured they are in a safe space".

"Sometimes their biggest worry is having a wash after what happened to them.

"We try to make them feel comfortable about themselves and support them with what they need."

Ms Adams said: "[Sexual violence] is still a taboo topic. It is a silent topic and needs awareness.

"But last week I had quite a few people who wanted to know about services we provide.

"We hope we can normalise talking about this and assure them this shame is not theirs to carry."

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