Skills for Justice have today launched a consultation on new National Occupational Standards (NOS) for providing independent sexual violence advice and advocacy. They are now wishing to seek the views of ISVAs and other interested professionals/agencies through their consultation questionnaire:

Consultation – New National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Providing Independent Sexual Violence Advice and Advocacy

LimeCulture has been working closely with Skills for Justice to develop the NOS for ISVAs, but we would strongly encourage ISVAs to contribute to the consultation as these standards will have a direct impact on what standards ISVAs are expected to achieve in relation to their role.

The consultation will end at 5pm on Friday 6^th September.

LimeCulture was thrilled to be invited to attend the Government Summit on Sexual Violence Against Children and Vulnerable People on Wednesday 24 July 2013 at the Home Office.

The Summit was attended by key professionals and experts on sexual violence and was hosted by the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice, Damian Green MP. The Minister’s opening speech can be found here. The Summit was chaired by Stephen Rimmer, Director General at the Home Office, and presentations were made by Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Peter Davies, Chief Executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and Paul Kissack from the Department for Education.

The aim of the Summit was to discuss the new cross-govenment work that will look at sexual violence against children and vulnerable people. A National Group has been established and has prioritised action in four key areas:

• improve multi-agency child protection so agencies are actively identifying those at risk
• further strengthen the safeguards against online child abuse
• fully equip police to deal with complex and sensitive cases
• ensure victims are at the heart of the criminal justice system

So far the group has:

• launched a consultation for new regulations for children’s homes (25 June)
• revised guidance for police officers and prosecutors to deal with sexual violence victims (11 June) launched a new criminal justice strategy including significant measures to improve the court process for victims (28 June)
• announced pilot measures for recorded pre-trial cross-examination of vulnerable witnesses (11 June)

The National Group will use the priority areas to look  at the following subject areas:

1. Prevention
2. Culture Change
3. Supporting Victims
4. Offenders
5. Institutions
6. Cyber
7. Police systems, capability and investigative practice
8. Criminal Justice System- treatment and response to victims
9. Local Implementation

In the afternoon session, the Summit attendees were split into the above 9 groups – based on their areas of specialism. The aim was for each group to identify issues and challenges that relate to that specific topic area.  Given the breadth and scope of LimeCulture’s work and the fact that we work across the whole of the sexual violence agenda, we could have contributed to any of the 9 work streams, however, we were placed in ‘Institutions’, which is being lead by the Department of Health. The focus of that roundtable was how to ensure that children and vulnerable victims within institutions (such as hospitals, children’s homes, secure estates such as mental health institutes) are protected from sexual violence. Given what we have learned about the nature of Jimmy Saville’s offending patterns, this is a very important area of work that we must get right for children and vulnerable adult to ensure that the sort of c rime committed by Saville can never happen again.

Each roundtable was asked to come up with 3 main points from their discussions, which were fed back to the wider group. Interestingly, most of the groups came up with similar cross cutting themes. In summary, LimeCulture believe that the 3 main themes that sit across all of the 9 workstreams and the 4 priority areas can be summarised below as:

1. Prevention is key.

Any prevention work around sexual violence against children and young people should be underpinned by:

• building confidence amongst children and vulnerable people that if they report sexual violence they will be believed
• every report of sexual violence being investigated thoroughly and fairly
• ensuring the message is clear that offenders will be prosecuted (and the full weight of the law will be used against them).

2. More needs to be done to identify victims.

We know that only a small proportion of victims report their abuse. There are a range of reasons for this, but we need to increase the numbers that are identified by ensuring professionals LISTEN to children and vulnerable people when they do report their abuse.  Furthermore, we need to train professionals and people working with children and vulnerable people to be able to identify the victims that choose not to report their abuse. Professionals need to be able to see ‘behind behaviours’ and notice red flags and tell-tale signs of sexual violence or exploitation.

3. Support for victims must be of the highest quality

Once, victims are identified as having been sexually abused or exploited, we need to ensure that high-quality support services are available to respond to their needs effectively. They must have access to the right service, at the right time. Professionals should be trained to understand what support needs the children or vulnerable adult might have after experiencing sexual violence, and importantly, we need to make sure those services are available and are of the highest quality. Such services should be planned, commissioned (funded) and effectively monitored to make sure they meet the needs of the people who use the services. Such services should be integrated with other services that the victim may be using or need and referral routes to and from specialist support services should be properly understood with appropriate care pathways in place to support victims.

LimeCulture welcomes the new work, focus and commitment around sexual violence against children and vulnerable people and we are keen to be involved as it progresses. However, we are keen to ensure that all forms of sexual violence have Ministerial Priority and we urge Damian Green not to forget the wider sexual violence agenda.

We have found out today that there is still funding available from the Home Office that can be accessed by ISVAs for training.

The Home Office are making grants available for ISVAs to attend accredited training, such as the ISVA Development Programme– and have provided funding for ISVAs to attend the whole 6 modules (£2,000 plus VAT).

They have also provided funding to (already) trained ISVAs to allow them to access further training, such as Court Skills. Trained ISVAs may also be able to access funding to allow them to attend individual modules, workshops or masterclasses as part of their continued professional development.

We have also been informed that some ISVA Mangers have been successful in receiving funding from the Home Office to allow them to access training such as the ISVA Managers Workshop

The training fund is being managed by Sean McGarry, Home Office Policy Lead. Sean.Mcgarry2@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Following yesterday’s conviction of a gang of men in Oxford who subjected vulnerable girls to years of extreme sexual violence, LimeCulture explore why vulnerable young people continue to be failed so badly by the authorities that are supposed to protect them and whether there is effective support in place to help them rebuild their lives.

Yesterday’s case was Oxford. But we’ve also had similar cases involving the sexual exploitation of vulnerable young girls in Telford,  Rochdale, Rotherham, Oldham and Derby. How many more cases are there? LimeCulture suspects that there are many many more in other towns and cities across the country.

There hardly seems to be single a day where a news story involving the sexual exploitation of children and young people is not broadcasted. Some of the abuse is historic, having taken place many decades ago, while in other cases the exploitation has occurred very recently. Whatever the timescale of the abuse, the children have always been failed to be protected. Why is that?

People don’t like to talk about sexual violence. They certainly don’t like to talk about sexual violence involving children. It is uncomfortable and easier to deal with if left unspoken. However, LimeCulture believes this is part of the problem. The reluctance of people to talk about sexual violence means that we are less able to identify the victims, which leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. The sexual abuse of vulnerable children is blight on our society, a society which has allowed too many of the abusers to get away with it and in some cases, continue to abuse for years.

Following the Oxford case, we will all want to find someone to blame for the abuse that these young, vulnerable girls were forced to experience for years at the hands of multiple men. We will say ‘if only the Police had done more’, or ‘if only Social Services had paid attention to what was going on’ and that will make us feel better. We will lay the blame at the door of a few agencies that will no doubt accept that they could have done more. But what about everyone else? What did nobody else step in to protect these girls? Perhaps it was also the teachers who ignored suspicions, perhaps the doctor didn’t ask the right question or perhaps the very people charged with caring and protecting the children did want to rock the boat. These questions could go on and on, as could the list of people who could have played a role in putting a stop to the abuse. LimeCulture believes that children are failed because it is easier to do nothing, not to get involved, not to rock the boat and not to speak about sexual violence involving children.

So why do people stay silent when it comes to sexual violence involving children?  Is sexual violence so well hidden that nobody can see when it occurs, even when it is your job to protect vulnerable people?

LimeCulture believes there is a combination of 4 main factors that leave children unprotected and exposed to abuse. These factors are:

1. Passive behaviour of professionals
2. Failure to agencies and professionals to work together
3. Lack of knowledge and skill to identify sexual violence
4. Lack of appropriate support services for victims.

The first factor that we have identified that leaves children and young people unprotected is down to the passive behaviour of professionals. As explained above it’s easier not to say anything and it’s easier to do nothing. LimeCulture believes the misguided fear of opening a can of worms is enough to silence most professionals.

Secondly, the ability of agencies and professionals to work together and share information (or suspicions or intelligence) that help join the dots of what is really going on compounds this lack of protection for victims. So often we hear of professionals that confess they had suspicions but they failed to discuss them with other professionals. Perhaps if they did, then their suspicions could be corroborated. Unfortunately, the difficulty of information sharing, data collection and protection between agencies means that common sense (and the skills required for a conversation) is often left at the door.

The third factor that LimeCulture believes leaves children exposed to sexual violence is the failure to adequately train and educate professionals in how to identify sexual violence. There are so many cases of victims coming to the attention of professionals on numerous occasions, yet the route cause is never explored. Take for example, the young girl who is a frequent visitor to the sexual health clinic, and suffers from poor mental health and yet nobody has ever asked her about sexual violence. There are so many indicators and tell-tale signs of sexual violence, but professionals still seem unable to see the connections and say that they lack the knowledge and skills to identify victims appropriately. Unfortunately, we are still a long way away from introducing routine enquiry into sexual violence in health settings, such as mental health or sexual health services, although this could very well be one of the advances that is needed in order to improve the identification of victims.

Finally, the lack of appropriate support services for victims is a huge factor when it comes to explaining why professionals fail to protect victims. The fear of failing to ‘appropriately respond’ can lead to professionals staying silent. For example, ‘if I ask whether they are being sexually abused, and they say yes, what do I do then?’.

LimeCulture believes that professionals are also failing to support victims of sexual exploitation, because of the lack of support available- particularly in relation to their mental health. Generally, there is an over-reliance on the voluntary and community sector to provide support services for victims of sexual violence (many of which are not properly commissioned, funded or monitored). However, the statutory sector are batting back referrals due to resource pressures. Many victims do not meet the high thresholds for statutory mental health services, meaning statutory support is only available for people who have reached crisis point or had to be detained under the Mental Health Act.

Whilst support from the voluntary and community sector is generally easier to access than statutory agency mental health support, the provision of sexual violence support services in the voluntary and community sector is still patchy at best. LimeCulture believes that there are still whole areas of the country where no specialist support is available for children and young people who have been sexually abused.

So, we find a catch 22 situation for many professionals who suspect somebody is a victim of sexual abuse. If they make that uncomfortable decision to act on their suspicions of sexual violence, they could find themselves in the situation where there is no support available for the victim. Ask yourself what is worse, failure to identify (sexual violence) or failure to respond (once they have been identified)?

LimeCulture is committed to improving the confidence and competence of frontline professionals working with victims of sexual violence. We would like to see that every victim of sexual violence in every part of the country can access high-quality support services when they need them.  LimeCulture believes that by ensuring efficient and effective support services for victims are in place (with careful planning, management and monitoring), professionals are less likely to adopt passive behaviours and are more likely to identify and respond to victims of sexual violence who each deserve to be protected.

Due to the demand for the LimeCulture Independent Sexual Violence Adviser Course, we are announcing further dates for 2013/14.

We have received a number of requests to hold the training in London so that people can travel by train more easily. Therefore, all 6 Modules will be held in a London venue.

The dates and costs of our 5th ISVA Development Programme are as follows:

Please visit www.limeculture.co.uk for further information about the training available for ISVAs

Please Note: Anyone wishing to attend all of the ISVA Development Programme can book the entire course for £2000 plus VAT ( saving £400 plus VAT)

If you would like to book a place, please email info@limeculture.co.uk for a booking form

Due to the demand for our Independent Sexual Violence Adviser (ISVA) Development Programme, LimeCulture is planning to run a further course later in the year.

We are currently finalising the dates  for the course and we will announce these in the next few weeks (It is likely that this course will run between September 2013 and March 2014 to remain within this financial year). We are aware that some ISVAs had found the locations where the ISVA Development Programme has been held in the past to be difficult to get to, so we are open to suggestions of locations and are very happy to send our trainers to a location that suits the majority of ISVAs wishing to attend the training. Obviously we cannot please everyone (otherwise we would try!) but we are open to suggestions of locations.

These further dates are in response to ISVA Services telling us that they are recruiting new ISVAs who will not be in place to join our next (4th) course that begins in June 2013. Great news that there are more ISVAs to join the workforce! All of our courses have a maximum number of delegates, so early bookings are recommended. Please contact info@limeculture.co.uk to reserve a place on the Autumn ISVA Development Programme.

The Autumn ISVA Development Programme will be the 5th time that LimeCulture has run specialist ISVA Training since September 2011. We have already trained over 60 ISVAs and hope to work with a good many more over the coming years as this important workforce increases to meet the need to provide high-qaulity support for victims of sexual violence across every part of the UK.

The next ISVA Development Programme will begin in  June 2013. Further information and dates can be found by clicking here. We currently have a few places available on that course, so if you would like to book a place on the June-December 2013 ISVA Development Programme, please contact info@limeculture.co.uk

Following the success of our Giving Evidence in Court Proceedings training course that LimeCulture launched last year, we will be re-running this vital training for professionals who may be called to give evidence- or involved in – court proceedings.

This training has been developed and designed as a 2-day course and will look at both criminal and civil proceedings. The training will equip delegates with the practical skills to give evidence in court, including how to prepare for the evidence giving process, the criminal process and completion of statements in criminal proceedings.

The 2-day course will take place on 23 and 24 September 2013 in Manchester. The cost of the course if £400 plus VAT per person. If you would like to book a place, please email info@limeculture.co.uk. This course has a limited number of delegates, so early bookings are recommended.

This training is suitable for:

• Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs)
• Advocates
• Counsellors
• Forensic Physicians
• SARC Staff including Crisis Workers
• Sexual Violence Services staff

On Thursday 25 April 2013, LimeCulture and King’s College London jointly hosted ‘Knowledge & Network:  an Event for Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs)’.

There’s an awful lot of preparation, effort and planning that goes into a successful conference, and we at LimeCulture tried to make sure that the Event was as good as it possibly could be for the ISVAs who attended. We asked what ISVAs wanted from the Event and we tried to do exactly as they asked, while trying to get the mix right between fun, networking and learning.

The Event started at a leisurely 10am with the hope that those travelling to London would not be forced to stay over the night before in order to attend the full Event. This seemed to work quite well as even the ISVAs traveling from as far away as Middlesbrough and Devon did not miss any of the keynote speech! ISVAs came from far and wide and represented a range of organisations including voluntary and community sector specialist sexual violence services, Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs), Local Authorities, Police and NHS. It was the first time that ISVAs had been brought together in this way, and although not all ISVAs were able to attend the event, a significant number of the ISVA workforce came to join us.

The Event was flawlessly chaired by Professor Susan Lea from King’s prestigious Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) who kicked off the event by warmly welcoming all of the ISVAs to the Strand Campus. Professor Lea explained the increased recognition of the importance of providing victims with advocacy and support and the growing support for the role of the ISVA. Professor Lea explained that the idea for hosting an Event to bring together ISVAs came about following the ISVA Focus groups run by the Home Office in the autumn last year. The focus groups highlighted that many ISVAs felt they lacked opportunities for ongoing training and development and that many ISVAs felt isolated in their role with little or no professional or peer support. LimeCulture and King’s College London decided to jointly host a learning event that would bring together the ISVA workforce and give them the opportunity to hear from leading professionals discuss topics relevant to the ISVA role.

Baroness Stern, author of the report ‘How Rape Complains are Handled by Public Authorities in England and Wales’ gave the keynote speech. Baroness Stern started by saying that she was thrilled to be invited to speak to a room full of ISVAs, something that has not been done before, and that during her report she had been very impressed by the ISVAs that she had come across. Baroness Stern reiterated the important role that ISVAS have in supporting victims of rape and that they play a crucial role in the criminal justice process. Baroness Stern called for all the ISVAs to unite as a workforce and organise themselves to make sure that their collective voice can be heard. An inspirational keynote speech from Baroness Stern, a great supporter of support for victims of sexual violence.

Professor Lea welcomed our next speaker Christian Papaleontiou, who is Head of the Interpersonal Violence Team in the Violent Crime Unit at the Home Office. Christian’s presentation focused on the policy context around sexual violence. Importantly, Christian said the Home Office was committed to supporting and protecting victims of sexual violence and that they recognised that ISVAs play a pivotal role in this support.

After the break, Bernie Ryan who is currently Chair of the National SARC Advisory Board and Manager of St Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre, spoke about the importance of ISVAs working in partnership with SARCs. Bernie explained that ISVA service provision should be an integrated part of the pathway for SARC patients. The next speaker was Carlene Firmin, from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner who talked about sexual violence in the context of gangs. Carlene explained the role of girls in gangs and urged the ISVAs to consider the possibility of gang-association of some of their clients. Specifically, Carlene said even if the ISVAs are not supporting clients from one of the 30 gang-affected areas (identified by the Home Office Ending Gang and Youth Violence Programme), ISVAs should consider the impact of gang-assocaition on all of their clients as gangs can be far reaching. The final speaker in the morning session was Dr Sam Warner, a Chartered and Consultant Clinical Psychologist. Sam’s presentation about working with children and adults with mental health problems injected a new level of energy and enthusiasm into the room in a very unexpected way which included retelling the story of Sleeping Beauty! Sam’s presentation about how people learn to cope, survive and recover after experiencing sexual violence was very informative and memorable.

The break from speakers and workshops over lunchtime gave the ISVAs an excellent opportunity to network with each other and meet up with existing and new colleagues. The room was buzzing with conversation and interesting discussions across the round tables in the Great Hall.

There were 3 workshops arranged for the ISVAs at the Event and they were organised in such a way to allow for each ISVA to attend all 3 workshops. Workshop 1 was hosted by Charlotte Triggs, Senior Policy Adviser from the Crown Prosecutions Service (CPS). This workshop was called ‘Understanding CPS Decision Making’ and explained the process that CPS Prosecutors undertake when deciding whether or not to prosecute in cases of rape. In the workshop ISVAs had an opportunity to apply the information in relation to different case scenarios to determine whether or not a charging is appropriate. Workshop 2 was titled ‘Are we really aware of the risks?’ and was hosted by Jeff Goodright, a serving police officer and training consultant. Jeff’s workshop introduced the digital communication world that we now live in and the potential risks that this carries, particularly in relation to those at risk of abuse. It really was an eye-opening workshop! Workshop 3 was hosted by Shelly Stoops, the interim Manager of SAFEPlace Merseyside, the SARC based in Liverpool. Shelly’s workshop, titled  ‘Not an Occupational Hazard- Working with sex workers who experience sexual violence’ encapsulated her vast experience of working as an ISVA and providing support to sex workers who have been raped or sexually assaulted. A fascinating workshop that provided practical examples of how to support sex workers.

Professor Susan Lea closed the event by thanking all of the ISVAs  for coming together to network and share knowledge. She reiterated the important role that the ISVA workforce has in providing vital support for victims of sexual violence and the need for them to coordinate their responses and organise themselves with one collective voice. Finally, LimeCulture’s Kim Doyle, ended the day by saying that she hoped that the Event had met the expectations of the ISVAs and that she hoped it had provided a valuable opportunity to learn from one another and meet other ISVAs.

LimeCulture would like to thank King’s College London for their support in organising and hosting this wonderful Event. We would also like to thank Geoff Reardon Photography for documenting the Event by capturing it with fantastic images.

On Saturday 13 April, the Guardian published an article by Amelia Gentleman called ‘Prosecuting sexual assault: Raped all over again’. The article centres on the experiences of  victims of sexual violence in the court room during a rape case and particularly,  how deeply unpleasant it can be for them. The article was prompted by the death of Frances Andrade in 2012, whose experience in the witness box left her feeling violated and like she’d been raped all over again. Sadly, Frances Andrade killed herself within days of the court case. The article asks whether it is time that changes were made for prosecuting rape cases.

The conviction rate in rape cases is an issue that is often hotly debated and has prompted governments (of all colours) to say they want to do more to help victims come forward and peruse their cases through the criminal justice system. Although these figures are not always properly reported or understood- it is true that the numbers of rape cases that make it into a court room is much lower than the number of rapes that actually occur and the number of rapes that end up in a conviction is significantly lower still. There are many reasons why the conviction rate is low, but LimeCulture firmly believe that if victims are able to access effective support and advice, then there is a chance that we might be able to increase that conviction rate.

The Home Office currently fund 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs), who are victim-focused advocates that work with people who have experienced sexual violence to access the services they need. Although most ISVAs will also provide advice and support to the victims who choose not to go to court, a hugely important aspect of the ISVA role  is to support the victim through the criminal justice system. Certainly, the thinking behind the Home Office’s push to increase the number of ISVAs was based on the notion that if victims are effectively supported, then our attrition rates should fall and victims will peruse justice for their abuse, hopefully ending in a better conviction rate.

So, if this thinking is right, then it is absolutely essential that the support given to victims is of the highest standard. LimeCulture is a massive advocate for ISVAs, who we believe do a hugely important role in supporting victims. LimeCulture have now trained 3 cohorts of ISVAs since September 2011 (our 4th cohort of ISVAS begin their training in June) and we believe that all of these ISVAs are providing excellent services to the clients they support. Sadly, we know that not all victims can access ISVA support as there are not enough of them across the country. Even more worrying is that where victims are lucky enough to have access to an ISVA, the level of support available to them will vary significantly depending on where they happen to be in the country.  The reasons for this huge variation are discussed in our earlier blog ‘ISVAs: Raining the standards for victims of sexual violence’.

There are very few articles about ISVAs and the incredible work that they do- so many people (including professionals working in the field of sexual violence) do not really know or understand what ISVAs do or how to access their support. So when Amelia Gentleman’s article makes a reference to an ISVA, we were really pleased. Its great to see the work of an ISVA included in articles…this will help raise their profile. Unfortunately, our pleasure soon turned to disappointment when we realised that the client in the article had been given inaccurate advice by her ISVA.

Giving clients inaccurate information can have devastating consequences. The victim in the guardian article was told not to have counselling until after her trial. This meant that she may not have access to all the support that she needed. Sadly, we know that this advice is commonly given by professionals to victims whose cases are being prosecuted and are awaiting trial. This advice is incorrect. Indeed a victim can access counselling before a trial but the therapist must follow the pre-trial therapy guidelines.

These guidelines are ‘intended to be helpful for all practitioners, especially those in the criminal justice system, NHS, social services departments and voluntary organisations‘. So it is alarming that so many professionals providing support to victims seem not to understand these guidelines and in some cases don’t even know that they exist.

After reading the guardian article, we tweeted that more needs to be done to ensure that victims of sexual violence are receiving the right advice and support from professionals to help them through the criminal justice system. We received load of responses and although every reply tweet and direct message agreed with that sentiment, we were alarmed at just how many people tweeted that victims of sexual violence should not be made to choose between counselling AND pursuing justice. We were alarmed that many people seemed to be of the belief that a victim of sexually violence could could not do both. More alarming is that these tweets came from professionals- the very people who are providing advice and support to victims.

If we are to try to increase the numbers of cases that go to court and ultimately improve the conviction rate, then we really do need to properly support the victims. Surely the starting point to making this a reality is to make sure that the advice they are given is accurate? Completely accurate. Only then can a victim make an informed decision about whether they or not they want to report their abuse and go through the court process.

LimeCulture is very concerned about the lack of knowledge in the sexual violence sector about the court process and the justice system. We can’t say for sure whether the outcome would have been different for the woman in the article had she been given proper advice about what support she could have accessed but we can be absolutely sure she deserved to be given the highest standard of support, and that includes being given accurate information.

LimeCulture believes that more needs to be done to raise the standards of the support provided to people who have been raped or sexually assaulted. More needs to be done to increase the knowledge of the people who provide the support and advice. We believe these services need to be quality assured to ensure they are fit for purpose and make sure that the people who represent  ‘the victim’s voice’ actually know what they are talking about.

LimeCulture has recently been contacted by a number of ISVAs who have been asked to disclose their records about their clients to the CPS. Whilst this is always something that might be requested, it should not happen in every case – it should be seen as the exception rather than the rule.

It is not clear why the requests are being made. One ISVA told us that she thought that the barrister in the case believed she was a counsellor i.e. her role had been misunderstood.

LimeCulture is keen to hear from other ISVAs who have found themselves in this situation and in particular what the outcome of showing the notes to the CPS has been.

Please email kim.doyle@limeculture.co.uk if you can help.