40 Years of Saying We Listen, We Believe, We Support: ERCC’s Anniversary

“A Rape Crisis centre opens in Edinburgh today to offer a confidential support service to women who have been raped or sexually assaulted. It is being run by a group of women interested in changing attitudes of the courts and the police towards women who have been raped.”

The Glasgow Herald, 1st July 1978

Across: Original poster from ERCC's launch in 1978. To contact ERCC now, visit our website.

In July 1978, the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre was launched. It came to be after a two year period of planning from a group of women involved in the women’s movement who wanted to create a safe and confidential space for women who had experienced sexual violence.

The opening of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre was marked with a vigil on Princes Street, led by this group of powerful volunteers and activists, and gained extensive coverage in the press. We were the third Rape Crisis centre to open in the UK, following London and Glasgow.

In 2018, we mark our 40th anniversary, and we will be holding events across the year to showcase not only what we do and share our specialist knowledge from the past 40 years, but to encourage others to consider what they can do to make a difference, too.

From 1978 to 2018: Edinburgh Rape Crisis Making a Change. Left: Lily Greenan and Aileen Christianson holding ERCC banner, 1990s. Right: ERCC and RCS staff mark the launch of the memorandum of understanding signed between the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and Rape Crisis Scotland (RCS), under which RCS will share anonymous feedback on victims’ experiences of the criminal justice system and their views on the service provided by COPFS (2017). Left to right: Anne-Marie Hicks, National Procurator Fiscal for Domestic Abuse, COPFS, Lord Advocate,The Rt Hon. James Wolffe, QC, Sandy Brindley, Chief Executive, Rape Crisis Scotland, Faye Allen, Support and Advocacy Worker, ERCC, Caroline Burrell, Centre Director, ERCC, Sabiha Vorajee, Board member, ERCC.

Over the past 40 years our service has grown, however our ethos has remained the same: we listen, we believe, we support. Our specialist trauma informed service is free and confidential, and from beginning in 1978 with a small group of volunteers, we now comprise 26 staff members (equating to 15 full-time equivalent staff), 19 volunteers and 11 trustees.

READ: Why I Volunteer at ERCC

READ: My Journey with ERCC’s Support Service

READ: ERCC’s Timeline, from 1978 – 2013

Our service is fully inclusive to all members of the transgender community, including non-binary and gender-fluid people, and we offer outreach work in East and Midlothian, as well as group support. We have an advocacy service for survivors journeying through the criminal justice process, as well as a specialist alcohol counselling support service. Our STAR project offers specialist support for young survivors of all genders, including offering creative therapies and sand play therapy, and we deliver educational workshops tackling gender inequality and raising awareness of sexual violence in schools and youth groups across Edinburgh City, and East, West and Midlothian, as part of Rape Crisis Scotland’s national sexual violence prevention network.

We draw on all of this specialist knowledge in the training that we provide to professionals and partners, and in our work with survivors and policy makers to campaign for change – including our ground-breaking publication, A Woman’s Story, which shares the experiences of a survivor, in her own words, through the criminal justice system, and which has been highlighted by the Scottish Government’s justice minister to help improve that system today.

In 1978 there were 10 phone calls to the helpline from women. In 2017-18, we supported over 600 service users and received over 400 new referrals to our service. We are experiencing an unprecedented level of need for our services, with our waiting list doubling over the past year.

We have been through quite a journey over the past 40 years, filled with both challenges and successes, and would like to say a huge thank you to our funders and supporters for their support.

In 2018, the demand for our services is higher than ever, and in our 40th year – like every other - we need your support to help us continue changing lives.

You can support us by:

>> Donate online and securely on our Justgiving page www.justgiving.com/ercc

>> By TEXTING ‘ERCC40 £(amount)’ to 70070

>> For FREE by fundraising in aid of ERCC or be being sponsored for an event. You can create a sponsorship page at www.justgiving.com/ercc

>> Engaging with us online to hear about our events and opportunities @EdinRapeCrisis (Twittter) and Edinburgh RapeCrisis (Facebook)

You can also support our work by:

>> Believing someone who discloses sexual violence to you

>> Supporting them to make their own choices about what they want to do

>> Challenging abusive and sexist behaviour or views

We would like to thank all the staff, supporters, and survivors who have shared in our journey over the past 40 years, and in 2018 will continue this legacy, and work to support survivors of sexual violence, and create change.