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Press Releases:
Rape Crisis project looking for counsellors—21 December 2007
Winchester’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling service, RASAC, is looking for new volunteer counsellors to help operate its telephone helpline service. Over the last ten years RASAC’s helplines have seen an average annual increase of 24% in the number of calls. Thanks to continued support from Hampshire Adult Services, the police and the PCT, together with an increased grant from the Community Safety Partnership, and a substantial one-year grant from the Home Office Victims Fund, RASAC is able to recruit more volunteers in order to meet the growing demand for its service.
RASAC provides free and confidential telephone helplines and face-to-face counselling for men, women and young people who have been raped or sexually abused at any time in their lives. RASAC already has a team of twelve specially trained volunteers carrying out this valuable work. The new volunteers will attend RASAC’s 35 hour initial training programme before starting work on the helplines. They will learn about the complex issues affecting people who have been victims of rape and sexual abuse, and how to respond to crisis calls. The training is due to start at the beginning of February and anyone with basic listening or counselling skills training is invited to apply. The closing date for applications is Friday 2nd February 2007.
Lizzie Nowosielska, RASAC’s manager, adds
“Although rape and sexual abuse are uncomfortable subjects for people to think about, the statistics show that we cannot afford to ignore the issue. In 2000 an NSPCC study showed that at least 1 in 5 young women and 1 in 10 young men had been sexually abused as children. In the South East this is 182,000 girls and 83,900 boys. We are only aware of about 1 in 800 cases because very often children tell no one what has happened to them. Sexual crime has a powerful impact on all areas of the victim’s life including their physical and mental health. For example: women who have been raped are ten times more likely to attempt suicide than those who haven’t; women abused as children are 4 times more likely to smoke, and over one third develop a dependency on alcohol or drugs. A 1999 Home Office study showed that 57% of female sex workers are victims of childhood abuse.
“RASAC clients show remarkable bravery and determination in committing themselves to their face-to-face counselling. One client said, on finishing her counselling, ‘thank you for your help, it has been really hard, but it has saved me, my marriage and my life with my son. I have never felt better.’
“Working at RASAC is demanding and can be distressing, but this is always outweighed by the outcomes. When someone tells us that they have turned their life around and no longer blame themselves for what was done to them, it makes all the hard work very worthwhile. Also we have a fantastic team of volunteers at RASAC who work together and support each other in providing this highly regarded service.”
August 2000
Winchester Rape Crisis changes its name to RASAC, the Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling service, to reflect more accurately the range of work that we do.
25 September 1999 - Round Tablers Support The Service
Winchester Rape Crisis has been given a donation of £250 by Winchester Round Table. The money is to be used for a scheme to train some of the existing helpline volunteers to work as counsellors for an individual one-to-one counselling service, planned to start in the city in the New Year.
The Rape Crisis project was launched a year ago, funded by the Hampshire social services and the North and Mid Hampshire Health Authority. The service provides two telephone helplines, for men and women, operated by volunteers who have been specially trained to offer free, confidential listening and support to anyone affected by sexual abuse or rape.
"We feel the work carried out by Winchester Rape Crisis is very important, and we want to demonstrate our support for this valuable project by providing a grant to help train volunteers to provide a high standard of counselling for people who have experienced sexual abuse and rape" commented Matthew Dietz, the Community Service Chairman of Winchester Round Table.
11 June 1997 - The Service's First Birthday!
Next week marks the first anniversary of the launch of Winchester Rape Crisis, which operates telephone helplines for men and women who have experienced or are concerned about, any form of sexual violence.
The service, which operates from a location in central Winchester but receives calls from throughout Hampshire and beyond, is staffed by a team of a dozen volunteers who are specially trained to listen and offer support in confidence and without judging. Volunteers are selected for their empathy and understanding of the issues around sexual abuse and rape.
A spokeswoman for the project said the first year of operation had proved the need for such a service.
"The response has also led us to realise that there is an unmet need for one-to-one individual counselling service in the area, and we are currently trying to raise sufficient funds to the up the specialised training this will require", said the spokeswoman, who wishes to withhold her name.
1 March 1997 - Promotion of the Service
The effects of rape or sexual abuse can be devastating, and can be hidden for years or can show themselves in a wide range of ways. Society is gradually becoming aware of the existence and prevalence of different forms of sexual violence, and in this climate of growing acceptance, survivors are more able to find support and help.
Winchester Rape Crisis was launched in the summer of 1996, using trained volunteers to operate telephone helplines for both women and men concerned about sexual violence. The service is free and confidential, offering listening and support for people who have been raped and/or sexually abused at any time in their lives. The helplines offer someone to talk to, someone who understands the issues around sexual violence, someone who is empathic and will listen without judging or criticizing feelings and actions.
The service is operated by a team who have been specially trained to listen careful and to give support and information. They are also committed to keeping calls confidential.
Although the service is based in the city centre, volunteers will take calls from all over Hampshire and the rest of the country.
The women's line, operated on Tuesday evenings, is answered by women only, while the men's line on Thursdays, is staffed by both men and women.
Calls can be from young people as well as adults, and can include the victims of rape and sexual abuse, their partners, relatives or friends, or anyone affected by sexual violence or abuse. It is hoped to develop the service shortly to offer one-to-one individual counselling.
13 June 1996 - The Service Is Launched!
A new service has for men and women who are concerned about or affected by sexual violence, has been launched in Winchester.
Winchester Rape Crisis Service offers a free, confidential listening and support service for men and women who have been raped and/or sexually abused at any time in their lives. Trained volunteers operate telephone helplines on two evenings a week.
Although the service is based in the city centre, volunteers will take calls from all over Hampshire and the rest of the country.
The team of 14 workers have been specially trained to listen careful and to give support and information, and they are committed to keeping calls confidential.
The women's line, operated on Tuesday evenings, is answered by women only, while the men's line on Thursdays, is staffed by both men and women.
It is anticipate that calls will be from not only women and men who have experienced different forms of sexual violence, but also from their partners, relatives or friends, or anyone affected or concerned about it.
"We can't obliterate the experience for someone who has been raped or abused, but by giving them space, time and support, in an empathic and non-judgemental manner, we can help them explore their feelings and the issues involved", commented the project co-ordinator, who wishes to remain anonymous.
New volunteers, particularly men, are being sought for the next basic Rape Crisis training course, planned for autumn 1997. It is proposed to expand the service shortly, to offer one-to-one individual counselling.
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