Funding plea as Scotland’s largest rape crisis centre closes two waiting lists

Scotland’s largest rape crisis centre said it has been “forced” to shut two of its waiting lists for help as the funding it receives “can’t even keep pace with supporting survivors”.

Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis centre said it was having to close the waiting lists as funding it receives from the Scottish Government’s Delivering Equally Safe (DES) fund had “remained effectively static since 2021”.

The centre said that a two-year settlement announced recently “equates to £3,918,216 less in real terms than five years ago”.

Meanwhile, the Star Centre, which provides similar support to victims in Ayrshire and Arran, and Lanarkshire Rape Crisis centre are both reviewing the impact of what is said to be a “standstill annual grant” from the DES fund.

In a letter to equalities minister Kaukab Stewart, those in charge of the three centres warned they would “continue to be under-funded with little to no hope for women and girls”.

Claudia Macdonald-Bruce, director of Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis, wrote to the minister along with Helen Provan, director for Lanarkshire Rape Crisis centre, and Isabelle Kerr, centre manager at the Star Centre, Rape Crisis Ayrshire and Arran, to raise their concerns with “profound alarm and deep sadness”.

Hitting out at ministers, the centre directors said: “The actions of the Government run counter to its stated aim of tackling violence against women and girls.

“The significant real-terms reduction in funding will have a direct impact on survivors of rape and sexual violence, and this comes as violence against women and girls is on the rise.”

The letter, seen by the Press Association, said services “already operate under significant pressure”, adding “we have now reached a point where the gap between need and resource is unsustainable”.

It comes after Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis reported a 42% increase in survivors asking for help in 2024-25 – with almost 40,000 cases where contact was made.

Decisions on closing two waiting lists by the centre were not “taken lightly”, with Ms Stewart told this will “result in even more survivors being denied access to the support that is critical to their recovery”.

The letter continued: “It is extremely difficult to reconcile public commitments to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) with a budget that reduces the real-terms value of the very services designed to respond to it.

“We should be funding action to tackle the rise in VAWG. Instead, we can’t even keep pace with supporting survivors.”

It continued: “This budget tells women and girls that their Government and the people elected to represent them don’t care, don’t prioritise them and are actively choosing to deny support for them in the wake of horrific and preventable crimes.”

Appealing for more cash, the three centre directors told Ms Stewart: “On behalf of the women and girls across Scotland, we are asking for you to urgently rethink the DES fund and put action behind what will otherwise remain simply hollow and empty words.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government remains steadfast in its commitment to preventing and eradicating all violence against women and girls, and addressing the underlying attitudes and systems that perpetuate it.

“We are looking closely at the immediate issue facing Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis.”