NHS England announced an opportunity for Police and Crime Commissioner’s to apply for non-recurrent funding to enable specialist sexual assault services to deliver specialist support that aligned with their Sexual Assault and Abuse Strategy. The funding covers an 18-month period from 1 October 2022 – 31 March 2024.
The bid
As part of the application process the Office of the PCC submitted a bid in partnership with Arch Teesside – this bid was successful and Arch Teesside will be awarded £37,292 to conduct a pilot which will provide a follow up support offer to victims of sexual violence following a report in Cleveland.
The aim
The aim is to improve the support offer after disclosure following the findings from ‘an in-depth analysis of Sexual Violence Data on Teesside (April 2022)’ conducted by Barefoot Research.
The report highlights that in 2022 less than half of all reported rapes showed a SARC or onward referral, ranging from 20% for historic sexual assault (with penetration) to 49.2% for historic rates meaning that less than 50% of victims may have limited knowledge of the support options and aftercare available to them.
In addition to this it has also been identified that it would be beneficial for reports of sexual harassment to receive follow up to ensure emotional support and wellbeing needs are being met across the spectrum of sexual violence offences.
To ensure the pilot is meeting the aims an evaluation will be included to support future investment / funding opportunities
Decision 22/23 – 0039: NHS England Sexual Assault and Abuse Strategy 22-24 (application, 191kB)