NEWS Pg. 2
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06/07/07 - Rape centres reach crisis point
The chairwoman of Rape Crisis UK has told this website that the UK needs more centres to care for victims of sexual assault.
Louise Rogers said:
“There are about 60 centres affiliated to us in the UK, so if you think about it, that’s one for every million people across England and Wales.”
One-quarter of all women in the UK experience rape, or attempted rape at some point in their lives, leaving a shortfall in the number of facilities available to victims.
Ms. Rogers continued:
“Over the last ten years we’ve lost, on average, two centres a year due to lack of funding.
“But what we need is more centres, not less.”
The claim comes amid fears that up to half of the UK’s centres may close in the next year because of discontinued funding from the government.
The centres were relying on the Victims Fund – a £1.25m cash injection from the Ministry of Justice – which is handed out annually.
But a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice has defended the decision to discontinue funding, saying:
"The Victims Fund was not established to substitute for local long-term core funding. We have been extremely clear that funding was only for one year and successful organisations accepted the grant on those conditions."
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