We support women of all ages and girls from the age of 13+, who have experienced sexual violence at any time in their life.
It’s difficult to tell someone about an experience of rape or sexual abuse at any age. We understand that, for a lot of older people, telling someone what happened may be especially difficult for a number of different reasons including embarrassment, feeling ashamed or confused, or not being sure who can help.
You may have experienced something 50 years ago, 5 years ago or 5 days ago. We are here to listen, believe and support you. It’s never too late to get the support that you deserve.
Sexual violence is a deeply personal trauma and may involve someone you know abusing you. Sexual violence can be perpetrated in many places, including your own home as well as residential, care and nursing homes environments. The impact of sexual violence can be devastating.
We know that many older women feel shame, embarrassment, humiliation, self-blame and fear about telling others what has happened. In the past, awareness about sexual violence was limited and, often, accepted as part of life. Some women will look back at what happened to them and feel it was ‘not serious enough’. Other women who experienced sexual violence as a child or in younger adulthood may think, “It happened years ago; I should be ‘over it by now’”. This is not true. It was serious enough and you have the right to access support for your experience.
There is lots of useful information which may help you understand and process your own reactions to your experience.
If you have experienced rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment or unwanted touching, at any time in your life, we are here to listen, believe and support you. Our services are available for women of all ages. You can find out if this service is right for you.
Is This Service Right For You?
Information for professionals and supporters
We are pleased to launch a new guide that we have developed for people who work with or support older women who have experienced rape or sexual abuse at any time in their life. The guide includes information on:
- Trauma, older women and the impact of sexual violence
- How to respond to someone making a disclosure of sexual violence
- What we know about older women and their experiences of sexual violence
You can download a copy of the guide here.
The Chilling Silence Project
It is a myth that only younger women are raped, sexually assaulted or sexually abused. Women can experience rape and sexual abuse at any time in their life. It is more common than you may think. 1 in 5 women in the UK have experienced rape or sexual abuse and many older women will have experienced sexual violence multiple times throughout their life.
Across 2020-2021, funded by comic Relief, DRCSAS were part of the South West Rape Crisis Centre Partnership working on a project across the region to raise awareness of sexual violence against older women and to bring about change.
The partnership published its findings from a survey and research on the needs and experiences of women within the South West, aged 55 and over, who have experienced sexual violence.
Our report, The Chilling Silence, highlights our local and national findings and makes recommendations on how local police forces, local authorities, local aged care and statutory organisations can help affected older women in the region. You can read the report here.