The CEO of a charity supporting survivors of sexual violence and abuse in Stoke-on-Trent has said the true picture of violence against women and girls is much bigger than a spate of recent reports in the local area this week.
Sophia Baker, CEO of Savana which offers survivor support and education on violence against women and girls (VAWG) said that while there is an increase in reporting to police, the organisation is “acutely aware that this area is one of the most underreported areas” of crime.
In the past week three serious violent crimes against women and girls have been publicly shared by Staffordshire Police.
On 14th March, a man sexually assaulted a teenage girl in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Police appealed for information after a man wearing a balaclava attempted to steal the girl's bicycle on Douglas Road before sexually assaulting her.
On 17th March, a woman in her 40s was sexually assaulted by two men on Thistleberry Parkway on Keele Road, also in Newcastle-under-Lyme. She was approached by the men who grabbed hold of her but fled after she resisted.
Police then launched a murder investigation when, on 18th March, a woman in her 60s was pronounced dead at a property in the Sneyd Green area of Stoke-on-Trent. A 53-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder.
“There’s a huge issue around women’s safety more broadly and it’s not an issue limited to Newcastle or Stoke,” Baker tells The Stoke-on-Trent Lead.
The most common crimes in Stoke-on-Trent are violence and sexual offences, however, with 15,581 offences during 2022 – 25 per cent higher than 2021's figure of 12,464. Authorities acknowledge that domestic abuse-related crimes and sexual offences recorded by the police do not provide a reliable picture of the extent of the problem.
“We know that people don’t come forward with reports of sexual assault,” said Baker. “The nature of the crime is it tends to be one on one and often committed by people known to the victim, so it’s something that tends to be managed within households.”
One in four women have been raped or sexually assaulted and one in six children are sexually abused. The National Crime Agency estimates that as many as 750,000 men pose a sexual threat to children.
Five in six women who are raped don’t report it for multiple complex reasons. Some 38 per cent of victims say they don’t believe police can help while 40 per cent say it's embarrassing.
“This is the notion of survivor guilt,” says Baker. “As a society we take the responsibility on ourselves and actually the messaging we need to get out there is that this kind of behaviour is never appropriate and it's never the victim’s fault.”
Earlier this month the Metropolitan Policing chief, Sir Mark Rowley said violence against women and girls should be treated as a national security threat on the same level as terrorism or organised crime.
“When you look at the amount of harm that predatory men create in communities and to individuals, that’s what it deserves,” he said. He called on future governments “to really build the scale of resource to deal with this problem”.
Baker said having VAWG placed on the agenda to tackle serious crime was encouraging.
“We’re talking the talk at the moment but it would be really good if we could walk the walk as well,” she said. “Unless the funding and support follows, it’s irrelevant. It’s one thing to say it needs it, to actually then do it is different.”
This year Savana, which is currently supporting 2,500 survivors from Stoke-on-Trent, needs £1m of funding to keep its doors open. It offers a range of services including counselling, support through the criminal justice process from Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs), training and prevention work in schools around topics including consent and toxic masculinity.
“We are a large service covering quite a number of areas and our caseload never diminishes,” said Baker. But funding is harder to come by and funders are increasingly demanding more for their money, she added.
“Our service is vital. We are the only service operating in the area and without us there isn’t support for survivors.”
Baker urged anyone in the local area who has experienced sexual violence or abuse, recent or historical, whether they want to report it or not, to come forward to Savana.
“You’re not alone and we are here to provide support.”
Call Savana on 01782 433204 or email [email protected]. Find out more about the charity and donate at savana.org.uk. If you have information on a crime in the area contact Staffordshire Police by dialling 101.
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