New centre keeps vital evidence safe for over 30 sexual assault victims

Saturday 05 May 2018

A new sexual assault referral centre in Jersey has enabled 34 people to have vital evidence taken from shortly after their assault without the involvement of Police, with two choosing to make an official report with the forensic samples when they were ready.

The service at Dewberry House - known as SARC - offers help, support and forensic examinations where samples are kept up to two years while sexual assault victims consider their options, without the pressure of Police involvement.

During its first year of opening, SARC has supported 93 victims of sexual assault and carried out 41 medical examinations, with 59 cases being referred to them by police and 34 people choosing to self-refer themselves without making an official complaint. 

Responding to the figures this week as the service celebrates its first anniversary, SARC Co-Ordinator Laura Osmand said: “What that demonstrates is that whilst they haven’t reported [the assault] to the police, they’ve been allowed to have options and choice around that so it doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t report it, but it just gives them some time to be able to process their options.

“They know that those samples taken will be at our centre for two years, and that ultimately gives them some time to think about what they may want to do. Being able to offer that service to the community of Jersey is so important and we are very grateful that we are able to offer this as part of our service.”

Although the service has only been running for 12 months, it seems islanders are starting to discover the support available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted, as they’ve had 35 victims walk through their door in St. Saviour so far this year, compared to 55 last year.

Pictured: Ornellia (left) and Laura (right) celebrated the 1st anniversary of SARC by raising awareness of the service on Kings Street. 

“This anniversary represents something that’s important to Jersey in terms of a service that was so desperately needed. It’s difficult to measure the success in numbers I think because actually what we should be looking at is how did we provide the client with the support that they needed, and for us that is a success in the terms that they’ve been able to access them and they’ve been able to give options and choices about what they want,” explained Laura. 

She added: “What’s important and what’s been happening over the last year is that we’ve been out speaking to as many professionals as possible, and what’s essential is that we are putting our victims at the focus of our centre, ensuring that we protect those that are most vulnerable whether that be children or adults.

The service’s team has had to grow as the centre has become more established in the island. Ornellia Matthews is one of the new crisis workers to join SARC in January, she says they’ve helped people who have come to them for support with historical cases but also those who have been recently assaulted. 

“The key thing for Dewberry House is that victims don’t need to report to the police, I think that’s what we are trying to raise awareness of which our year anniversary, is that victims can come in, self-refer, police do not have to be involved and it’s about giving the victim the control back in these situations, that everything is about their choice and what they want to do. We take it at their speed and that’s the key message that we want to raise,” she said.  

Pictured: 34 people have self-referred themselves for forensic examination at Dewberry House, with two cases deciding to report the sexual assault to the police at a later date with forensic samples. 

Laura confirms that both men and women have used the service within the first 12 months of opening, and they hope to provide more services for young people in future with a children house focusing on their wellbeing after an indecent assault.

“This is something that we as a service are really passionate about, protecting the children of our island and allowing them to have a safe space where they can come and get the dedicated care and support that they need and the medical intervention from our service.

“But equally as well to provide them with a focused and co-ordinated therapeutic journey so that hopefully one day they can be restored after a sexual assault,” Laura said.