The history or 'herstory' of the rape crisis movement in Wales and England stems from the 1970s but has been rarely documented during its lifetime. This is partly because the movement was never about justifying itself in print. The women who came together, in different parts of the country to provide services for other women, had enough to do keeping core services going in the face of funding crises and general lack of support from many local authorities, social and health services and police forces. However, providing an outline of where we came from provides a good platform to now look at where we are going and how we relate to the wider community of the criminal justice system ... Remembering the past but looking to the future -  Jones &  Westmarland

Opportunities and Obstacles: The Rape Crisis Federation

From 1996 to 2003 the rape crisis movement in England and Wales was supported by a national organisation – The Rape Crisis Federation.  This article tells the story of its emergence, its feminist principles, the impact it had at the national level, its links with other feminist networks within the UK and in Ireland and its demise following the withdrawal of state funding. In speaking out about the responsibility of the state to take action against sexual violence it forged a place for itself at the table of government and secured state funding. Whilst not dismissing the evident benefits that state funding can bring to women’s organisations, this paper offers a timely critique, utilising the Rape Crisis Federation as a contemporary example... 

Jones, H. (2004)  The Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies Vol 8.

Surviving Sexual Violence

This study, based on in-depth interviews with sixty women, was published in 1987 and was the first book to cover women's experience of a whole range of forms of sexual violence over their lifetimes. Drawing on feminist theory, Liz Kelly used women's voices to develop it further: conceptualizing the different forms of sexual violence as a continuum; focusing on how women define their experiences and how they develop strategies to resist; cope with, and survive sexual violence.

Available from; the Child and Women Abuse Studies Unit, £11.50 plus £1.00 p&p

Sexual Assault Referral Centres: developing good practice and maximising potentials
 

Home Office Research Study 285.

This reports on the findings from the evaluation of a number of projects, which were funded to support victims in the aftermath of rape. This report focuses on the contribution of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs), and provides an insight into the type of services that support victims in the aftermath of a traumatic crime such as rape. The findings are timely as many years after the original SARC in Manchester was established, a number of new SARCs have recently been established and several more are in the development stage.

Available to view at the Home Office website.