Features / Bristol Charity Advent Calendar 2020
Bristol Charity Advent Calendar 2020, day 7: SARSAS
This article discusses domestic violence and sexual assault.
With an estimated one in five women experiencing sexual violence from the age of 16 and an estimated 126,000 female adult survivors of sexual violence living in the Somerset region, SARSAS are supporting people of all genders to survive following any experience of sexual violence at any point in their lives.
Offering a confidential helpline, online chat, support sessions and counselling, SARSAS (Somerset & Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support) help girls, boys, women, men, transgender folk and non-binary people in Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
is needed now More than ever
The charity also offers training and advice to professionals and support for friends and family of people affected by sexual violence.
Sexual violence includes rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, incest, sexual domestic violence, trafficking and sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, ritual abuse, forced marriage, crimes in the name of honour, sexual intimidation, coercion or harassment, whether physical or verbal.
“We believe rape and sexual violence is never the fault of the victim and we will always believe and support you,” say the SARSAS team. “We understand that it is difficult to talk about these things. We can offer a safe and private space where you will be believed and you won’t be judged.
“We listen and believe. We support survivors to explore their thoughts, feelings and options. We believe rape and sexual violence is never the fault of the victim-survivor.”
One in three women worldwide will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, but during the first few weeks of the UK’s lockdown, police received a call about domestic violence every 30 seconds.
With sexual violence often carried out mostly by an intimate partner, the coronavirus pandemic has shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, has intensified.
“In a country in which over 85,000 women experience rape and 400,000 experience sexual assault every year, the work of organisations like SARSAS is of the utmost importance,” says SARSAS’ patron Laura Bates, founder of Everyday Sexism.
“I passionately believe that the only way to tackle this wide ranging gender inequality is to do everything we can to combat it at every level, and that everybody has a vital role to play. Our voices are loudest when we raise them together.”
With an increase in violence against not only women and girls, but men, boys and all other genders during the pandemic, exacerbating an already prevalent problem, the need for charities such as SARSAS has been cemented .
Main photo: SARSAS
Read more: Shining a bright light on domestic violence
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