West Midlands Police unveils plans to improve services for victims of sexual assault
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WEST Midlands Police are hoping more victims of sexual assault and rape will come forward to report crime, following the formation of a strategic partnership which aims to improve access for victims to a wide range of services.
Officers from the Force's Public Protection Unit joined forces with local partners, including NHS, local authorities, CPS and independent organisations to commission for the first time, a needs assessment to look at the scale of the problem of issues relating to sex violence in the force area.
The results of the assessment will be presented to stakeholders at a meeting in the region this week.
As a result of this needs assessment, police and partners are seek agreement to jointly commission of a specialist one stop destination centre for all victims of serious sexual assault in the West Midlands.
The Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) will be developed in the region as a state of the art service to encourage all victims of sexual assault and rape to report offences and have instant access to other services such as counselling, medical help and access to criminal justice.
The service would be run by another provider, but will provide 24 hour access for adults and children who have been victims of sexual assault & rape. Victims would be offered medical care, counselling, emergency contraception and forensic care should they wish to report the incident to police.
The progress made to develop a SARC service is a result of West Midlands Police and partners joining together last year, to establish a SARC strategic partnership (SSP).
The Force already has two specialist victim examination centres located in Walsall and Birmingham, where victims of sex assaults have access to high quality forensic services and are supported by specially trained police officers and staff.
Det Supt Simon Hyde, Head of the Force's Public Protection Unit said: "We are committed as a partnership to developing a SARC service for the West Midlands region. Rape and sexual assault are devastating crimes, which can have long-lasting effects on the lives of victims. By working with partners, we can offer help and support quickly to victims, while also providing high quality forensic care to improve evidence and ultimately improve criminal justice outcomes."
Tracey Thorne, SARC Project Manager from NHS Birmingham and Solihull said: "The partnership commissioned a Sexual Violence Needs Assessment (SVNA) which focused on rape, sexual assault and child sexual abuse, to help understand the scale of the problem and to what extent the existing services meet the needs of victims. The findings highlighted a significant gap in reporting sex crimes and access to services similar to the national picture, where an estimated 11% of victims report to police."
As part of the partnership we aim to build on the force service by commissioning a SARC centre to achieve a range of local and national priorities to improve wellbeing, tackle violence and abuse, reduce inequalities and tackle discrimination. The aim is to provide all victims with equitable access to SARCS across the country."
Tracey added: "This week, officers from the Force's Public Protection Unit will be joining partners to host an event aimed at stakeholders across the region. At this meeting, Baroness Stern, who has led an independent review about how public authorities handle rape cases and local MP Gisela Stuart, will join an audience of over 150 people to engage partners in working together to meet the needs of victims."
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