Raising Awareness
CIS'ters has helped and continues to help raise awareness in many ways, including:
ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Project
In addition to providing emotional support to adult female Survivors, we also undertake awareness work. This is focused on the existence and impact of sexual abuse on child victims and adult survivors.
During 2018-2019 we chose the topic of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) for the awareness subject, as this helped us to highlight that sexual abuse rarely happens in isolation, there are usually many more dynamics within the family environment that provide opportunities for sexual abuse to occur. During 2020 we had anticipated continuing the ACE awareness sessions, but the COVID pandemic meant we had to put them on hold.
We are still passionate about the link between ACE's and CSA. If you want to know more about ACEs, click on this link Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE's) from our website.
Access to and Improvement of Services
We are an active member of a number of national strategic partnership boards/committees. All have the aim of improving safeguarding and, where needed, access to services (statutory and 3rd sector).
Contact details for SARCs (Sexual Abuse Referral Centres) located elsewhere in the country can be found at: NHS Sexual Abuse Referral Centres | National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) SARC
National – Direct Awareness Work
MESARCH - This was a Coventry University led research project exploring what is best practice within SARCs (Sexual Assault Referral Centres). We had a representative on the Committee leading the work. More can be seen about the project here: mesarch.coventry.ac.uk/whats-our-project-about/
SAAS SPV - We have a representative on the lived experience group linked to NHS England’s National Strategy on improving victim/survivor experiences of statutory and other specialist services. You can read/download the strategy (currently being revised) here: www.england.nhs.uk/publication/strategic-direction-for-sexual-assault-and-abuse-services/
CPS - We have a representative on a CPS led CSA Stakeholder Forum which was established in recent years. A strategic group with a wide representation from the specialist sector and cross government.
National Consultations – Direct Participation
We have regularly taken part in various national consultations and continue to do so. Set out below are some examples:
→ Prior: CIS'ters took part in the early stages of development of the national inquiry into the institutional response to sexual abuse – and the initial establishment of IICSA (Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse) https://www.iicsa.org.uk/ . We know that an increasing number of our members also took an active part in the associated Truth Project www.truthproject.org.uk/about-the-truth-project
→ Prior: CPS public consultation on guidance for pre-trial therapy. The revised guidelines went live in May 2022. A copy of the draft document is available at https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/pre-trial-therapy
→ Prior: We have taken part in consultations undertaken by The Children’s Commissioner for England such as their report on CSA within a family environment www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/report/protecting-children-from-harm/
→ Prior: We also took part in the development of guidelines produced by the National Institute for Clinical Guidelines on Child Abuse and Neglect www.nice.org.uk/about/nice-communities/social-care/child-abuse-neglect-guidance
→ Prior: ‘Women’s Mental Health: Into The Mainstream’ a document produced in 2002 and highlighted many of the inequalities that continue to exist. It is worth reading the document webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Closedconsultations/DH_4075478 and the final report outcomes webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100407211051/http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Responsestoconsultations/DH_4077713
→ Prior: ‘Ongoing: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls’ assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/522166/VAWG_Strategy_FINAL_PUBLICATION_MASTER_vRB.PDF
National Umbrella Organisation – The Survivors Trust
Not many know that CIS’ters was one of six organisations that created The Survivors Trust. In 1999/2000 it was hit and miss whether victims and survivors could find the support to help them recover from the trauma of sexual violence and abuse. Most specialist services worked in isolation and there were no regional or national funding streams for support. Centres struggled to find the resources they needed themselves and many closed as a result of lack of funding.
At that time the Manager from CIS’ters and leads from five other small charities began to meet up regularly in London to offer each other peer support and encouragement, plus advice on managing trauma services. Then in early 2001 a decision was taken to open up the group to others who could become ‘Organisational Members’. The focus of The Survivors Trust (TST) was to continue to provide peer led support to Organisational Members but also, as numbers grew into a credible national umbrella organisation, to provide a ‘National Voice’ on behalf of those specialist services.
As of October 2024, the Survivors Trust is the largest umbrella agency for specialist rape and sexual abuse services in the UK and provides support to an incredible number of member agencies. CIS'ters continues to be an Organisational Member.
As part of The Survivors Trust role, Fay Maxted OBE (the Chief Executive Officer of TST) and other members of her Management Team regularly meet with Government Ministers/others to highlight the needs of the specialist sector and to present a core understanding of the issues facing victim/survivors of sexual crimes.