OUR AIMS
We at Scotland Against Sexual Assault, or S.A.S.A., aim to bring awareness to the people of Scotland and justice to those who have sadly fallen victim of the increasing sexual crime statistic in Scotland. Our hope is to create a safer place for those wherever they are, whatever their circumstance and whatever they are doing. Our association is for everyone no matter; religion, gender, sexuality, age, race, disability or background. Please get involved to help Scotland a safe place for everyone.
THE FACTS
YOUNG PEOPLE
Around 1 in every 20 young people between the ages of 11-17 have experienced sexual abuse in the UK alone as of 2021. As well as this a horrifying ⅓ of harmful sexual behaviour reported by young people, was carried out by another young person. Following onto this a random selection of 96 young perpetrator sexual offence charges were taken and discovered a horrifying 45 of these cases were attempted rape, rape or sexual assault. All of these perpetrators were young people (both male and female) between the ages of 12-17.
This is enough evidence for our service to recognise that some form of action in schools should be taken to reach out to young people and educate them to lower these offending rates and keep Scotland’s children safer.
HOMELESSNESS
Along with the horrifying abuse rough sleepers and homeless people receive on a daily basis, they are also more exposed to sexual crimes. In the UK a survey discovered that 1 in every 20 homeless people have been victim to sexual assault whilst homeless. This has often been traced back to homeless services being made predominantly for men leaving physical facilities less safe for women although it isn’t always women who are the victims of these crimes. A clear problem is that all people who are forced to rough sleep are far more vulnerable to sexual crimes as they often lack protection. This gives strong evidence that we need to get as many people off the streets as possible and homeless services should make sure their facilities are up to date and safe.
PARTNER
In relationships sexual crimes often go less recognised or less reported as they often feel higher feelings of guilt behind the situation or try to excuse the actions because it is someone they are close to. This however is not the case as sexual crimes can occur anywhere by anyone. According to a report done by police scotland in 2019, 1 in 10 reported rapes occured on the first or second date. Out of the 2293 rapes reported in Scotland in 2019, the perpetrator was the partner or ex partner 35% of the time. This shows there should be more awareness and safety especially involving the beginning of dating with public places being aware and you yourself being aware of the signs that a person’s intentions could be leading down this route.
GENERAL
Sexual crimes take up 5% of all Scottish crimes. Within that, 18% of sexual crimes are reported as rape/attempted rape. Also within that, 37% of all sexual crimes are sexual assault as of 2020. As well as sexual crimes there has also been a 76% increase in stalking incidents between 2011 and 2020. There are far too many statistics behind these issues and it is clear to us that there is a serious issue going on.
SUPPORT FOR VICTIMS
Childline – 08001111
Rape Crisis Scotland – 0808 801 0302
(Male only) Survivors UK – 0845 122 1201
Scottish Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0800 027 1234
Help for Male Survivors of Abuse (PDF Download) – CLICK HERE
Caring For Yourself After Sexual Violence Course
All at S.A.S.A. have completed this free course to further educate ourselves and help us educate others.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/statistics-briefings/child-sexual-abuse
https://www.mungos.org/news/women-and-rough-sleeping-report-released/
https://www.gov.scot/publications/recorded-crime-scotland-2019-2020/
https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/one-ten-rapes-reported-scotland-16848579
EVENTS
PUBLICITY
We were recently interviewed by Laura Piper from STV News.
Unfortunately the interview went out live so we cannot link to it.
We were fortunate to be interviewed by Edinburgh Live about our awareness campaign this week.
Here is a link to the article:
This week we were invited on to BBC Radio Scotland with Stephen Jardine. Here is a link to the article (available until end of April) we come on around 1 minute 40 seconds in:
LIVE EVENTS
The People's Stories
Currently our live event is working towards a larger upcoming protest. We are looking for anyone with a story, either from their own experience with sexual crimes or as witnesses, that we can get our guest speakers to read out on a live stream. We are doing this to raise awareness and to show people how real the situation is.
To enter this, you can email your story to us via email and we will get back to you as soon as possible to make sure we have your full consent to share your story.
DONATIONS
Here at SASA we are sharing our currently live GoFundMe around our social medias to help raise awareness for rape and sexual assault recovery. All money donated to this GoFundMe will go directly to the Rape Crisis Line in Scotland to help further their support for victims of rape.