High-profile sex abuse cases are helping potential victims speak out

Thursday 30 November 2017

There's been a "significant" increase in the number of islanders seeking help for alleged sexual abuse in the last month, which support workers believe could be due to the high profile of cases in the media.

Laura Osmand is the co-ordinator of the Sexual Assault Referral Centre at Dewberry House; she says allegations in the media against people such as the Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein, and various UK MPs, are encouraging people to speak out - and that's a positive sign.

She explained: "If somebody makes a disclosure to you, the biggest gift you can give them is to listen and act on that if they want to. We want professionals to give them the option to come to Dewberry House, where they can get a confidential service so they don’t have to go through it alone."

47 people have come to the SARC since it opened in May and numbers increased recently. Ms Osmand says this might be due to the focus that sexual abuse has been under since the allegations about Harvey Weinstein emerged - he has strongly denied all allegations of wrongdoing. There have also been high-profile allegations against UK MPs. 

Pictured: Dewberry House is located at Plaisance Terrace, on Route du Fort, opposite Howard Davis Park.

Ms Osmand says that the increase could be partly due an increase in awareness of Dewberry House, as well as what has been happening in the media. "In the last month, we have seen a significant increase and I don’t know whether that’s due to our service now being embedded amongst professionals and speaking more to the public about what we do. I think it also includes everything that has been happening in the media around Hollywood. People are talking about sexual assault in a really positive way and about encouraging people to stand up and speak out against sexual assault, sexual violence.

"Certainly what I have seen in the last couple of weeks is that people are coming to us looking for support which is really encouraging. Going forward I would encourage people to continue to do so, if they are feeling alone or feel that they don’t know what to do they can call the helpline and speak to our advisors who can give them some options and choices. They need to know that support is here for them."

Dewberry House is open 24/7, 365 days a year and offers free services. People can gain access to those either through the police or by referring themselves.

"People can self refer here and they can have a Forensic Medical Examination in the forensic window, so up to seven days following a sexual assault. If they decide they want to go down that route we would store any samples that we have taken during that examination for two years.

"That means that they can have time to think about what they might want to do and make an informed choice that works for them. We often know that sexual assault perpetrators try and get control over their victims and one thing we advocate here at Dewberry House is that we want people to feel they are in control when they come here, and that they don’t have to do anything they don’t want to do. We are guided by their decisions and their choices."

Pictured: The SARC works with the Police to support victims of sexual assaults.

When people choose to report a crime to the police, the SARC also offers the help of an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA), who will offer support throughout the judicial process. Ms Osmand says that the response to the service has been positive with more people reporting what has happened to them. "Certainly, they feel more confident and comfortable talking about what happened to them. We try and build trust which is crucial and make sure that they feel safe and in control at all times."

After nearly seven months of activity, the SARC recently recruited an additional ISVA and will be recruiting crisis workers in the new year.

"There is more awareness about what we do and we want victims to know that support is here and help is available. I would encourage to Speak Up and Speak Out. Sexual assault or rape is one of the most devastating crime someone can commit but victims don't have to go through it alone."