Research shows Rape Crisis Centres have nearly year long waiting lists
A parliamentary question to the Scottish Government raised by Monica Lennon MSP has found that Rape Crisis Centres in Scotland have almost year-long waiting lists.
Monica said:
“The recently announced emergency funding from the Scottish Government can’t come soon enough for cash-strapped Rape Crisis services, who do brilliant work with so little.
“Traumatised women and girls are waiting up to 10 months for essential support and this should shame ¬Scotland. Survivors of sexual assault should always be able to access ¬support services at the point of need.
“In my own area Lanarkshire, the service is running with a quarter of the volunteers it needs because the money isn’t there to train new recruits.
“Encouraging survivors to come forward needs to backed up with guaranteed practical support and the ¬Scottish Government, working with local authorities, Police Scotland and other partners, must raise their game.”
The content of the question and the response from the Scottish Government can be found here:
Question S5W-18158: Monica Lennon, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 10/08/2018
To ask the Scottish Government how long the waiting list is for rape survivors at each rape crisis centre.
Answered by Christina McKelvie (07/09/2018):
According to Rape Crisis Scotland, as of August 2018 waiting list times for each centre were as follows:
| Centre | Length of waiting list |
| Argyll and Bute | 6 months |
| Grampian | 2 weeks |
| South West (Dumfries and Galloway) | 6 months |
| WSRAC (Dundee) | 10 months |
| STAR (Ayrshire) | 2-3 weeks |
| Edinburgh | 4.5 months |
| FRASAC (Fife) | 6-7 months |
| Forth Valley | 6 months |
| Glasgow and Clyde | 9-10 months |
| Lanarkshire | 4-5 months |
| Orkney | None |
| RASAC (Perth and Kinross) | 4-6 months |
| Highland | 5.5 months |
| Scottish Borders | 7-8 months |
| Shetland | 6-8 months |
| Western Isles | None |
We know that having to wait for support a real life impact on victims, who deserve to be able to access the support they need. That is why Tuesday’s Programme for Government commited us to investing a further £2 million over the next three years to speed up access to support for those affected by rape or sexual assault. This includes £1.5 million for rape crisis centres, with that funding beginning from October so it can start to make a difference immediately.
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 07/09/2018