RAPE CRISIS CENTRE CALLS ON POLITICIANS TO TAKE ACTION BEFORE VITAL SERVICES ARE TAKEN AWAY.

FOLLOWING the Amnesty International report released this week by the End Violence Against Women Coalition which stated that there were no funded specialised support services for rape victims anywhere in Northern Ireland the Rape Crisis & Sexual Abuse Centre is calling on local politicians to finally put to action their years of verbal support.

Almost two years ago the Rape Crisis & Sexual Abuse Centre - which is the only free, crisis counselling service in Northern Ireland for victims and survivors of rape, child sexual abuse and sexual violence – had it’s government funding withdrawn amid controversy.

Since this time the Centre, with only staff of just two and a further three volunteers have been surviving on donations from the general public and small fundraising events organised by supporters.

Now with just weeks to go before Christmas staff have gone unpaid for almost six months and the Centre is once again facing closure.

Co-Director of the Centre Eileen Calder said: “On an average day we would receive many as six new calls from survivors, sometimes people just wanting to talk on the phone about fears they have or things that have happened to them.

“We are the only place that they feel safe to talk to, we are a kind of beacon of hope their lives.
“It’s just very disheartening that after all of these years and after all of the work that we have done that we are in a position where our phones are being cut off and we can’t pay our rent.
“Our local politicians do care about this centre and the work that we do and will try to undo the wrongs that that have been done in the past but they need to do that now or this Centre’s doors are going to close by Christmas.”

Centre Manager and Co-Director Eileen Kelly added that it was time the government realised the benefits of having a service like the Rape Crisis Centre available to survivors.

She added: “Our phones were cut off recently because we couldn’t pay our August 2nd bill because we don’t have any resources at the moment at all.

“We save the National Health Service thousands upon thousands each year keeping women out of psychiatric units, helping them to give up their anti-depressants, helping them to move on from self-medicating through alcohol or drugs – both illegal and legal.

“I feel entirely emotionally drained, I feel angry, I feel exasperated, I feel a slight sense of disbelief and it’s not just about the money it’s the fact that there’s so many people being let down.”

And survivors Julie Anne Boyle and Dorothea Brown who appear in a new DVD – The Centre’s Own Crisis – kindly donated by local production company Tern TV, fear the worst if the vital services of the Centre are taken away, especially just before Christmas.

Julie-Anne, who was raped and abused by her father, said: “When I started coming to this centre I began to get back my self-worth and my self-esteem.

“This is the only place that survivors come through and feel that they are worth something, that they are themselves, take that away and I don’t know what people like me would do.

“There were times I didn’t want to go to the Centre, times I thought I couldn’t do it – but I climbed those steps every week without fail because I knew at the end of it that I was going to get my life – the better part of my life – back, I’m surviving.”

Dorothea, who was gang raped at the age of 14 and who experienced further sexual violence throughout her life added that victims and survivors felt that they were being ignored by the government, politicians and the system.

Speaking on the DVD, available on request by emailing info@rapecrisisni.com, she added: “Once again you feel kicked in the teeth, the system has let you down – you feel like you’re banging your head against a brick wall and nobody is listening.

“It’s like they’re saying ‘it’s only you, it doesn’t matter’. Well it is me and something has to be done not just for me, the ones before me and the ones after me.

“Something has to be done.”
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If you would like to donate your time, resources or money to the Rape Crisis Centre log into www.rapecrisisni.com, email info@rapecrisisni.com or call 028 9032 9001.

If you would like a copy of the DVD please send a stamped, addressed envelope to Rape Crisis & Sexual Abuse Centre, 29 Donegall Street, Belfast BT12FG or email info@rapecrisisni.com.

PLEASE NOTE: The Rape Crisis & Sexual Abuse Centre are holding a Charity Sale and Craft Fair every Thursday night (5-9.30pm), Saturday and Sunday (10-5pm) at their offices in Donegall Street. Admission is free and all donations are welcome.