Give victims and survivors of sexual violence and abuse a voice.

Which political party will do the most to support people who have experienced sexual violence or sexual abuse? And plan to eradicate such crimes.

For more than 40 years, we have been supporting people who have experienced sexual abuse or sexual violence, so that they have access to specialist, professional therapeutic support and can begin to heal.  But sadly, demand on our services continues to rise, and more must be done to ensure the right support is made more widely available to the people who need us.

Last year alone (2023/24) we supported 610 people from Norfolk.  And according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (in the year ending December 2023) 3,361 sexual offences were recorded in Norfolk, but many more go unreported.

As CEO of Sue Lambert Trust this is my plea to voters. Please pause and think about victims of sexual abuse when voting. We have a collective responsibility to elevate voices and speak out to send the clear message – sexually motivated crimes are never okay.

Living with the trauma of sexual abuse can be detrimental to so many areas of life – work, careers, healthy relationships, physical health – and result in lifelong mental health concerns. Yet too many people continue to suffer because there simply isn’t help available within the public sector and NHS. Charities like ours, and so many others, continue to plug the therapy gap.

We want to see.

• More investment in mental health and specialist counselling services
• Quicker, fairer action in our courts for sexual assault and sexual abuse victims
• And more investment in the education of counsellors, so that more people can upskill and provide the much-needed therapy that too many sexual abuse survivors are waiting to access.

Before crossing that box, please consider these five points when choosing which MP gets your vote.

Point 1: Funding for professional, specialist support
Which parties are committed to increasing funding for charities that support people who have experienced sexual violence or sexual abuse? With appropriate funding we can provide specialist support to almost twice the number of clients we see now: potentially eradicating any waiting lists and providing the therapy people require as soon as they contact us.

Point 2: Take a stronger stance against sexually violent crimes
Since 2021, and the publication of the Tackling Violence against Women and Girls strategy, there has been a much-needed focus on responding to issues faced by women (and to some extent boys and men), and that access to justice is prompt, respectful and fair.  But the fact remains that sexually violent crimes are still far too prevalent in society, and there are too many instances of victims and survivors being let down. We urge all parties to commit to continuing and building on the good work that has been done without delay and to send a strong, clear message that no one should live in fear of being raped, sexually abused or assaulted. We want to see a society free of sexual crimes.

Point 3: Lifelong mental health support for survivors
The availability of NHS mental health services for people who have experienced sexual abuse or assault is inadequate. The current system relies on organisations like Sue Lambert Trust to step in, but with limited funding. Current services fall short of the commitments made in the NHS strategic direction for sexual assault service (2018) where the standard is to provide lifelong care for victims and survivors.  We seek reassurance from all parties that victims of crime, especially people who have experienced recent or non-recent sexual abuse, violence or assault, have their health and wellbeing needs recognised, and for their needs to be one of the elements in any mental health and physical health strategy or programme that is created by our next government.

Point 4: Make counselling an accessible career for all
Our professional counsellors are our lifeblood.  However, training to become a specialist therapist is a long-term and expensive commitment, meaning it’s not accessible to all. Therefore, we seek a commitment from all parties to provide financial support for ongoing adult education and especially access to counselling education and qualifications. There is an opportunity for people to upskill, switch careers, and provide a much-needed therapeutic resource, but those wanting to join the profession need financial support.

Point 5: A cohesive, kinder society
All parties standing in the election must ensure that they clearly and unequivocally support a cohesive society so we can all work together to prevent all and any types of abuse from occurring in the first place.

Thank you for your support.

With kindness, Clive