A charity supporting survivors of sexual violence across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has secured funding to improve its communication with victims from underrepresented minority communities. 

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Police and Crime Commissioner Darryl Preston has awarded £4,140 to Peterborough Rape Crisis Care Group (PRCCG) to translate important help and advice guides into six languages.

The funding will help to reduce the barriers faced by victims from Black or racially minoritised communities across the county. 

It has been allocated from the PCC’s Victim Services Improvement Fund – a grant scheme he developed from the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) Core Victim Services Grant, to help providers improve their services, especially those wanting to offer more support to victims from hard-to-reach communities. 

In partnership with its sister centre, Cambridge Rape Crisis, PRCCG offers a range of free services from therapeutic support programmes through to practical and emotional help from Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVA) to help survivors of sexual violence cope and recover from their experiences. 

Darryl said: “Sexual violence affects people of all ages, classes, sexualities and backgrounds.

"It is vital we continue to develop diverse and responsive services that are sensitive to the unique needs of survivors and provide a consistent level of care to anyone who needs help."

Following the appointment of countywide Community Inclusion and Engagement ISVAs working specifically with survivors from Black and racially minoritised communities, the service has seen an increase in take-up for support from within these communities over the past 12 months – 14 per cent higher for the ISVA service and eight per cent higher for emotional support services. 

It has also seen an increase in survivors coming forward for whom English is not their first or preferred language. 

The funding will enable the Cambridge & Peterborough Rape Crisis Partnership to build on this work by translating key informational material including its ISVA service guide, ISVA support agreement, CHISVA support agreement (Children and Young People ISVA) and Self-Help Guide for Survivors into Chinese, Polish, Urdu, Hindi, Thai and Arabic. 

Jacqui Campey, CEO of Peterborough Rape Crisis, said: “I would like to extend our thanks to the Commissioner on behalf of the Cambridge & Peterborough Rape Crisis Partnership for providing this funding.

"We have been delivering specialist services to all victims and survivors of sexual violence for over 40 years and having our literature translated will enable us to further reduce barriers for victims and survivors whose first or preferred language is not English".

She added: "Our aim is to increase confidence in our services from racially minoritised communities and our translated literature will support our work to increase accessibility for victims and survivors within the communities we serve.”