Sex attack unit offers specialist support for traumatised victims

The new Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) has been established to offer counselling, medical care and forensic examinations around the clock in North Yorkshire, which had remained one of only a handful of areas nationally without the facilities despite being England’s largest county.

The centre, which is called Bridge House, has been set up in York after one of North Yorkshire Police’s medical suites was transformed to create the specialist facilities for the SARC, including a sterile forensic area, shower rooms and interview rooms.

Detective Inspector Karen Warner, who works in the North Yorkshire force’s Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit, has been spearheading the campaign to establish the SARC for more than two years.

She told the Yorkshire Post that the SARC will provide a much-needed resource to support victims of sexual assaults and rapes at a time when they are at their most vulnerable.

The new centre will allow vital forensic evidence to be collected and held on file while victims consider whether they want to lodge a formal complaint against their attacker and spark a full police investigation.

Det Insp Warner said: “As a police force we have always tried to provide as much support as possible to victims of sexual assaults and rapes, but we are investigators first and foremost.

“People have acknowledged in the past that there have been gaps in the provision of support services, and this is why the SARC is so important.

“It is all about giving victims more choice and making them feel in control of their own decisions. Anyone who has been sexually assaulted is faced with a huge range of emotions, and they may not feel up to making a formal complaint especially if their attacker is known to them, which is the case in the vast majority of offences.

“There are stereotypes that only certain sections of society are affected, but rapes and sex attacks can happen to anyone. The stigma that is associated with the offences means that a significant number of victims do not come forward, but the SARC will hopefully ensure more people are willing to report what has happened.”

There has been a steady increase in the number of sexual offences in North Yorkshire during the last few years, although a police spokeswoman stressed only one or two per cent of the crimes were committed by offenders who were not known by the victims.

The North Yorkshire force recorded 525 sexual offences in 2009 which ranged from inappropriate touching to rapes, and the figure had risen to 590 last year. There have been 200 recorded sexual offences in North Yorkshire so far this year.

Det Insp Warner said she anticipated there would be a 10 to 20 per cent increase in the number of medical examinations for rape and sexual assaults in the first year of the SARC’s launch.

But she maintained the centre would help direct victims to relevant services, including counselling and sexual health clinics, and would also support anyone who had endured sex attacks dating back several years despite forensic evidence no longer being available to collect.

The centre has been established with £126,000 in funding from the former North Yorkshire Police Authority, which was disbanded with the election of the county’s first Police and Crime Commissioner, Julia Mulligan, in November last year. Mrs Mulligan claimed the SARC will “significantly improve” the support given to victims of sex attacks and increase the chance of bringing offenders to justice.

The £35,000 salary of the SARC’s manager, Sarah Murphy, is being paid by the NHS.

She said: “Victims of sexual crimes can often be scared and confused, and they may find it hard to approach the police and make a complaint in the early days following an assault. The centre will make sure that they can receive the best possible care, support and service from all the agencies who can help them, including specially trained professionals who will guide them through all the options available to them.”

Victims can contact Bridge House via the website, www.turntobridgehouse.org, or on 01904 669339. Police have, however, stressed that anyone who is in immediate danger should call 999.

email [email protected]