Our Performance and Impact 2021/2022
Contents Our Year in Numbers Impact stories EducationPreventionYouth218ZaaraNalaCeliaBettyKatherineRubyJaneEvaDawnProjectWork
Total number of contact points with survivors: 19,483
Longest emotional support waiting list time for survivors who are not in immediate crisis: 11 months
Percentage which are women: 96%
Percentage which are men: 3.4%
Of this amount 65% came from the Glasgow area, and 21% of these came from communities within Glasgow that are in the top 5% of SIMD areas in Scotland.
Total number of new survivors asking for support or advocacy: 641
This includes phones calls, text and WhatsApp messages, emails, instant messaging, and video calls.
Our Performance Principles Intentions
Of the 2,640 survivors supported and advocated for, 130 (5%) are from the BAME community, with most of this service being provided to survivors in the Glasgow area (98%).
Total number of Connect Live contact points: 1,680
Of which 33% were from women under 24 years of age, and 67% 25 years old or over.
Total number of survivors we have supported and advocated for: 2,640
Percentage who are transgender: 0.6%
Delivered across 780 hours.
Inverclyde:
Proportion
East Renfrewshire:
Inverclyde:
2%
East Dunbartonshire:
3%
7%
East Renfrewshire:
of our advocacy service delivered in each local authority area:
Renfrewshire:
1%
West Dunbartonshire:
12%
Total
across 48 community youth groups and in 19 high schools.
Total
Renfrewshire:
Proportion Glasgow:
75%
number of young people receiving prevention, training, and education services: 2,618
13%
East Dunbartonshire:
number of people receiving First Responder and Bystander training: 135
West Dunbartonshire:
of our emotional support service delivered in each local authority area:
2%
2%
Delivered
Our Performance Principles Intentions
73%
2%
9%
Glasgow:
I was nervous when I was first put in touch with my support worker but felt the 1-2-1 sessions allowed me to talk through my feelings in a safe and supportive environment. The support helped me understand and work through my thoughts and feelings, particularly around self-blame which I was really struggling with. The support started giving me more confidence to assert boundaries and building routines into my daily life. It felt like small steps each week, but over time I started to notice a positive change within me, which I never thought would be possible.
"Before contacting Rape Crisis Glasgow, I was at a stage where I couldn’t function at all and also developed a dependency on alcohol to cope. Anxiety and fear were constant. I had severe insomnia and panic attacks if I had to leave the house on my own. It was through the encouragement of a friend that I found the courage to get in touch. I was initially hesitant because I felt like my case wasn’t severe enough, as it wasn’t a stranger who attacked me. I was worried I’d be wasting valuable time, but I could not have been more wrong. It was scary to make the first contact, but I was immediately put at ease. I learned quickly that there is no ‘standard’ case when it comes to rape so I would say if this has happened to you, please don’t think your event isn’t valid or ‘bad’ enough to seek help.
Dawn
After completing the sessions I’m finally able to go out on my own without having panic attacks and my sleep has improved. I don’t depend on alcohol to cope anymore, which has been a massive turning point for me. The coping strategies that were given to me has been life changing and I still use them daily. I still have some wobbly moments but through the support I’ve learned how to identify triggers and have coping tools in place. I’m beyond thankful that I found the courage to get in touch, the support I received has had such a positive impact on my life and I finally feel hopeful for the future."
At the end of her ten sessions, Eva reviewed her support process and noted significant improvement. Eva agreed that she had gone from merely surviving to now thriving. Eva reported that she felt very happy and noted that she would now rate her overall wellbeing as a 9 out of ten as opposed to a 2 or 3 out of ten. Eva is very hopeful for the future and has excelled in her university coursework and her placement.
Eva accessed the Rape Crisis Service via the helpline and was referred into the Strathclyde University Service. Eva explained she had been in counselling previously in an initial meeting and explained that she had good coping mechanisms unrelated to sexual violence trauma but felt that they didn’t seem to work as well in relation to sexual violence and that she needed more specialised support. Eva had been subjected to sexual assault and had recently been triggered. It became clear through support sessions that Eva had experienced multiple other traumas in her life and as a result struggled with anxiety, panic attacks, low self-esteem, relationship problems, trust issues, a negative view of the world, a negative view on men, body image problems, low mood, and suicidal thoughts. When asked to rate her overall wellbeing out of ten at the start of support she scored herself a 2 or 3 out of ten.
Eva
Throughout support Eva explored thoughts, feelings, and emotions and in particular the impacts of abuse, using support tools such as the Window of Tolerance, the Feelings Wheel, and Grounding Techniques to help her with the healing process. Eva reported at her midway review with another worker that support was going well and did not need to wait anytime on the waiting list and that she felt that she was getting on well with her worker.
Through the process, Eva had feedback for the centre saying that she found visual resources useful but would like to have a place where she can access these resources all together online. She also noted that she felt the name Rape Crisis was a bit intimidating.
Jane
Jane survived multiple rapes and reinforced emotional and physical abuse over a period of 18 years. The abuse and rapes started when she was 24 years old, the perpetrator was her long-term partner and father to her children. Jane had been diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), anxiety and depression. She was seeking support to move on with her life and understand “why this had happened to her”. She felt like her life was not worth living as she could not move on from the pain which was inflicted upon her for years. The perpetrator committed suicide when the investigations had started to take place, this made the woman feel like she would never have closure.
The first sessions of support were very difficult for Jane as she felt that she was telling someone else’s life story and found it difficult to recall some of the rapes. She described her feelings and emotions and how she was triggered by flashbacks constantly throughout the day. She had problems with nightmares and her sleeping was disturbed on a nightly basis. She suffered from extreme disassociation and lost hours of her days. She described being raped daily and began to believe that this was a normal life. Jane was subjected to a completely controlled life and was not allowed to make any decisions in relation to the house, finances, or her children. Jane felt scared all the time and it was starting to negatively impact her work. This added more stress to her life as she was worried about losing her job in turn losing her home. Jane discussed the injuries she received throughout the 18 years which included dislocated jaws and shoulders, knee damage, broken ankles, and fingers, popped collarbone, shoulder surgery, black eyes, burst lips, tears and skin injuries and self-harm scars. She talks about the psychological trauma and nervous breakdowns. She also feels tremendous guilt around her children as she feels she should have left sooner. Jane attaches a lot of blame to herself as she believes she should have been strong enough to leave. She states that she “was never away from the accident and emergency ward. Jane suffered from long periods of isolation resulting in severe infections and meningitis.
Throughout Janes support, she was educated about the effects of trauma on the body and the brain, and felt that learning about the body’s responses helped her to identify what was going on inside herself. Helping Jane to understand that what she was experiencing is a normal reaction to trauma was effective to her healing. We explored feelings of helplessness, defectiveness, shame and blame and how all those feelings are symptoms and not her reality. Jane wanted to regain a sense of safety and trust in her environment instead of having panic attacks whenever she left the safety of her home. It was also important for Jane to understand that it can take time to recover from rape and that the healing process can be painful. She wanted to regain a sense of control and rebuild her self-worth and confidence.
Jane was originally referred for 10 sessions of support, however due to the severe nature and length of time the rapes and abuse took place it was extended to 20 sessions. Throughout support Jane learned relaxation and breathing techniques, she got to speak about what had happened to her in a safe and nurturing environment while learning about grounding techniques and healthy coping strategies.
Jane
Jane does not understand why her mind can’t forget the painful things that have happened to her and expresses a need to move past what has happened. Her family members tell her every day to let it go and forget about him. Jane finds this attitude to be distressing as she wants her family to believe the suffering her had endured. Together we explored that being believed is a fundamental part of the healing process and it is important to be heard by family as well as professionals. This sort of support reduces feelings of fear, shame, and guilt within a survivor.
Jane
“I did not know how I was going to survive in life after been through what I had been through in life. I could not leave my home and I had to work from home as the panic attacks were overwhelming. I was triggered by police cars, trains, smells, and people telling me what to do. I did not understand that the triggers and nightmares were symptoms of rape and abuse. I now understand my body’s responses to certain situations. My health and wellbeing are much better. I can now be a better mother and I have returned to work full time. I have now passed my driving test and go on road trips every weekend. I would never have been able to do any of this stuff if I did not receive support from Rape Crisis. I will be forever grateful”.
Ruby
Ruby a 16 year old who has been receiving advocacy from a worker in our Justice Service, and more recently has started emotional and therapeutic support sessions with another worker in out Survivor Support Service. Ruby was able to choose a method of support that best suited her which is having sessions on Zoom. These sessions have focused on emotions, needs, coping skills, and self-care.
"My experience so far has been amazing. Both workers have helped me majorly within my mental health and struggles to open up within myself and to other people. Tracy especially has really helped me explore my inner feelings and really find out where I needed to work on, and I couldn’t thank them both enough.”
I had a really good experience of support and there isn't much I can think of that could be better. Maybe having a list of all the different activities that could be done could help so that any that are really important can definitely be covered within the ten sessions, because they fly by! This is also probably very individual to me so not necessarily feedback that could be applicable but sometimes when we had weeks off in between sessions I actually got some benefit from that because I had more time to reflect on what was covered in the last session and see the impact it has had.
I would definitely recommend this service because I have noticed a huge difference within myself since receiving support. I found that the support was completely adapted and tailored to my needs and to what I wanted to explore and so I felt it targeted exactly what I was struggling with and really helped me. I am glad the University of Strathclyde offers this service because it gave me somewhere to turn to that I felt safe and that I felt was accessible. I think in offering this service and working with Glasgow & Clyde Rape Crisis, the university is also helping to create a safe space, standing with survivors, and believing them, and providing somewhere where information can be accessed on issues such as consent - I think that is so important and I'm so glad that my university invests in something like this."
"Before accessing support, I felt very anxious, I was uncontrollably overthinking everything and had the tendency to feel quite sad about things. I accessed support because I began to notice these feelings expanding and impacting different facets of my life, I noticed my anxiety changing and beginning to make me feel worried about both the past and the future, rather than just being focused on the past and what had happened to me. I saw my feelings impacting different aspects of my life and was worried they would also impact my studies as I was having trouble focusing and was aware that stress directly related to my studies could exacerbate the feelings I was already struggling with.
I now feel much more in control of my overthinking and anxiety as I feel I have tools to tackle them. The best bit about support was learning about the different things that I was going through, such as the hyper and hypoarousal states, which allowed me to understand my feelings and unpack them. Learning about different feelings themselves using the feeling wheel helped me the most as I was struggling to properly identify individual emotions due to getting overwhelmed and therefore was having difficulty processing and dealing with my thoughts and feelings properly.
Kathryn
Betty Betty had came to Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis following a recent incident. She had decided not to report to police but did engage in emotional support. Later, Betty contacted the Support to Report Advocacy service whilst she was in crisis at a mental health hospital where she was an inpatient . A worker spoke to Betty on the phone about making a statement to the police and gave her options to see if this was the right thing for her to do at that time. Betty decided that she wished to proceed with legal action.
The Support to Report worker organised for police to come to the hospital and take a statement about the incident, while also being present to support Betty. Betty gave her statement shortly before being discharged from the hospital, and her worker continued to support her afterwards. This included making sure Betty always had updates and felt engaged with the process. Although Betty was happy in her decision to report the incident, she was very nervous about the perpetrator being approached but was supported by her worker throughout. In this instance, although the perpetrator was interviewed by the police, he was released without charge.
Being supported through the process of telling her truth, being listened to, and believed allowed Betty to feel empowered. Only six months after checking herself into hospital, Betty sent a text to her worker saying that she was leaving to go on a solo trip to Indonesia and thanked her. "Hi! I came across your number in my contacts, and I thought I'd send you a wee update. I can't thank you enough for all the support you gave me, knowing I got him arrested has really empowered me. I'm off to Bali, Indonesia next week for a 3-week trip. Hope you're well."
a few weeks later to say she had put a hold on the new housing application and had heard that the next preliminary hearing had been delayed until July 2022 for the letters to be investigated. Celia remarked that she is happy and feeling at ease with everything now that it looks likely some action will be taken.
Celia had been receiving letters to her home address from the accused in prison, where he is being held on remand. Celia reported these via 101 and was given advice from the Rape Investigation Unit. Their response was disappointing. Police suggested to Celia that she consider moving house to alleviate the issue. The Support to Report worker met with Celia to complete her Victim Impact Statement and to discuss the situation with the letters. The worker agreed that moving seemed not be in her best interests and Celia was grateful for this. The worker assisted in identifying who might be the best person to report the letters to and Celia agreed that she would like the worker to contact the Procurator Fiscal on her Celiabehalf.called
Celia
Nala
When Nala came for her first session with her Ruby worker, she was upset and stressed. Nala had reported that she especially had difficulty sleeping. The Ruby worker helped Nala with creating a bedtime routine to reduce stress. At Nala's most recent support session she explained that she now consistently follows the routine, and it has helped her greatly and especially likes listening to calming music before sleep. Nala now volunteers for a charity and goes to college to learn English, but continues to follow the routine every night.
Zaara
Zaara is a young woman from Iran. She had fled due to being forced into a marriage and experienced physical and sexual violence. Deeply traumatised she presented with complex mental health issues and suicidal feelings. Zaara has claimed asylum nearly two years ago and is waiting for her substantive Zaarainterview.has been receiving support with weekly sessions. These meetings have accomplished getting Zaara emotional support. Due to her time in Iran, Zaara is very traumatised. She has physical scars which reminds her every day of what she went through. With help from her support worker, Zaara has explored her feelings around this, her low self-esteem, having very negative feelings, family relationships and culture, being shamed and made to feel guilty. Zaara also feels very hopeless and worries about getting sent back to Iran. There has been continued support around her understanding of the asylum process and liaising with her solicitor. The support worker has also accompanied Zaara at lawyer appointments. Due to the emotional distress trauma, Zaara support worker has been trying to get her access to primary mental health support. Zaara has been very honest and open about her feelings and not wanting to feel so hopeless in her life. Zaara works on coping techniques to try and reduce her anxiety about her future, sleeping better, feeling more positive about life – the strength Zaara has shown in managing to flee and be safe. Zaara also receives the monthly service mailout which she finds helpful.
218 Project
Our Access and Development worker contacted the 218 service in Glasgow, which provides an alternative to custody for women in the justice system. We were able to arrange a meeting with the manager and from there, worked together to learn about each other’s organisations and how we at GCRC could best support the work done at 218.
This was done by holding two, 2-hour training sessions with 218 staff (including nurses, housing team, management, addiction officers and admin team). This gave the 218 staff opportunity to learn about the Centre and ask questions, and GCRC the opportunity to learn first-hand their experiences working with women from 218. There was further discussion about the barriers their women face when looking for access. These barriers were due to the lack of trust, lack of knowledge of the Centre, and travelling to the Centre.
We then began discussions on how an outreach worker may help overcome these barriers and give vulnerable women the access to much-needed emotional, trauma-informed support. After arranging a GCRC tour for staff and service users to see our space, meet staff, and learn more about the services on offer, we agreed to provide a monthly support drop-in at 218 premises for their women. Creating a direct referral and support pathway between GCRC and 218 that did not exist before, overcoming barriers for this vulnerable group of women.
The second challenge to consider was ensuring the group remained engaged for the duration of the session. I therefore developed and planned for to be responsive and to use a mixture of open and closed questioning, along with allowing small group discussions. I delivered interactive tasks and used a selection of short videos. I also gave them an extra break to ensure they were not getting bored.
Youth Work
I delivered an extended workshop to a group of young people that were involved in a Barnardo’s employability scheme. There were nine young people all S5-S6. I devised and delivered three mini sessions on gender, what is sexual violence, social media, and sexting. The main challenge to overcome was engaging the young people in discussion and debate because I had been advised by the Youth Worker that a couple of young people would be unlikely to engage at all.
The feedback I had from the young people was very positive and all engaged. One suggestion was for more information on how to intervene if you are concerned about issues around safety such as witnessing groping when you are out.
During a Prevention session with High School age young people, a group of young men were arguing that catcalling was part of the Scottish culture, defining it as “banter”, was to be expected from locals. I first encouraged the class to share their opinions about their statement, asking to disagree or offer criticism in a respectful manner.
Some young women in the room felt confident enough to voice their own experiences of being verbally harassed on the streets and how bad it felt. Other female students nodded along. However, most of the young men in the classroom seemed were dismissive of that experience. Because of the age of the students in the classroom and their capabilities to contribute, I decided to challenge their view on what they saw as culturally appropriate by starting to talk about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). As I was describing this Gender Based Violence (GBV) practice, the classroom started to show sympathy for FGM survivors and voiced their shock on learning of its existence. When the young men who initially justified catcalling, spoke out loud their disapproval and disgust, I decided it was time to compassionately challenge them.
I started saying that it was part of the local culture and that people saw it as culturally acceptable. Moreover, it was culturally accepted not allowing young girls and women to study in Afghanistan or to drive and walk alone in Saudi Arabia. I further challenged them saying that if it was the culture, it had to be dismissed and seen as okay.
Every time I walk into a classroom to facilitate a workshop, I never expect the whole class to agree with all the statements I provide or have changed their whole position on sexual and gender-based violence issues by the end of it. My purpose is to provide young people with information and allow them to form their own opinions about the spoken issues. I am empowering them by allowing them to make informed decisions.
Prevention
As the whole class disagreed, one of the male pupils voiced that despite catcalling not being as physically violent as FGM or as limiting as removing education to young women, he disapproved of such “cultures” and voiced his reflection on how he never thought about it in that way. When I asked to the group of young men who initially justified catcalling, they were less vocal than before and appeared deep in their thoughts. In that moment, I knew my approached had prompted them to reflect on what they had deemed acceptable if not normal, for their whole lives. This was enough for me to know that I did my job well.
Within these workshops, young people learned about the contributors to sexual violence or the catalysts to it. Young people learned more about how pornography does not depict realistic sexual relationships and although there is no shame, it can be harmful for body image, consent and used as a tool for education and not pleasure.
“The worker made it comfortable enough however sometimes people feel the topic can be awkward to discuss”.
Working within a school, I carried out workshops on consent, what is sexual violence and pornography. Most workshops were positive with good interaction from the pupils. They were open to challenging opinions and worked very well in groups. However, there were at times challenges from young men asking, ‘what about men?’ and stating that they felt it was unfair to focus on only women when sexual violence happens to all genders. I acknowledged this and empathised with their feelings and stated they were right. Using statistics and parallels to issues which disproportionately affect men, I was able to explain calmly why we talk more about male violence. Additionally, challenges with communication arose.
“I thought the workshop was a fun and safe space which was very helpful in improving my knowledge about consent and the laws about it”.
Due to the nature of some of our topics, pupils in the classes sometimes feel awkward and unable to speak about sex, sexual violence, and pornography. To make this easier and more comfortable with young people, I adapted the examples to be about relatable and trivial things like pizza and singing. This allowed young people to talk freely and allowed me to draw conclusions and parallels with the more sexualised nature of our workshops.
Education
Registered in Scotland, company no SC127793A Scottish Charity, no SCO06595 Free to Call Connect Live Helpline: 08088 00 00 14 Glasgow & Clyde Rape Crisis 5th 131FloorWest Nile Street 0141info@rapecrisiscentre-glasgow.co.ukG1Glasgow2RX5523201
