Embrace Child Victims of Crime is supporting #ITSNOTOK – a national week to raise public awareness of sexual violence and sexual abuse.
More and more children are being referred to the charity seeking support to help them cope and recover from the trauma of sexual violence and abuse.
In the past year alone, requests for specialist counselling for young victims of sexual violence has increased by more than 30% compared to the previous year.
Over the course of the next week, Embrace will take to social media to show the impact of sexual violence on young lives in the UK and how its services can help them move on to fulfil their potential.
Anne Campbell, Embrace Chief Executive, said the increase in referrals to Embrace is evidence of a growing demand for the specialist interventions it can deliver to help minimise the long-term damage of sexual violence.
“We are seeing, across the board, an increase in demand for our emotional, practical and specialist services for children, for all types of crime, but most keenly in this highly complex area and for emotional intervention,” she explained.
“The range of support we provide, which can be tailored to the individual, has proven advantages for victim recovery.
“In supporting #ITSNOTOK, we aim to raise greater awareness of the prevalence and impact of this crime on children, and the need for any child victim of crime, anywhere in the UK, to be able to quickly and easily access the support services that will help them recover.”
Embrace delivers emotional, practical and cheer-up support to any child who has been the victim of serious crime in the UK, referred to them by frontline professionals.
Through its network of associate therapists and a partnership with Relate, in most cases it is able to offer no-wait access to counselling which can help the young person understand and manage their feelings. Increasingly, Embrace is able to offer holistic family support in recognition of the impact of the crime on the immediate family.
Between April 2018 to date, Embrace has delivered support to 2,459 beneficiaries in all parts of the UK and the Channel Islands, of which 1128 have experienced sexual abuse or violence including child sexual exploitation. This compares to 1043 referrals linked to sexual violence for the whole of the previous year (April 2017-18), showing a rise of 8% with two months of this reporting year left to go.
The charity’s dedicated young victim care officers work with the child, and their immediate family or carers, to put in place support to meet their needs. This can include one-to-one counselling, peer group support, family breaks or practical help, for example funding for a therapeutic hobby.
To find out more about the work of Embrace CVoC or to refer a child in need visit www.embracecvoc.org.uk
