News/Blog

An update on coronavirus/COVID-19 and our services

At the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre, the wellbeing of our service users, volunteers, staff and their families is paramount. This is why, to prevent the spread of coronavirus/COVID-19, we have made some adjustments to our services.

We know this can be a difficult time for women who are experiencing abuse, and we want to make sure they are still able to access our legal and advocacy services.

Our team is now working from home and the organisations we work with to deliver our surgeries have moved to online meetings. We are also aware that some court cases and proceedings are being postponed. All of this brings important challenges to the women we work with and to our team. For this reason, we ask you to please be patient with us as we adjust to this new way of working.

Below you will find information about changes to our services. We will continue to assess the situation as it develops and we will publish any updates in this blog.

Helpline

All our helplines are open as usual. We are committed to keep them operating and we will notify of any closures due to coronavirus —and other temporary situations— on our social media.

You can find our regular opening times and days here.

Surgeries

Our surgery appointments will now take place via telephone and videoconference. This will be arranged for by the organisation hosting the surgery.

If you have already made an appointment, the surgery host will contact you to check these arrangements are suitable and safe for you.

You can make an appointment for our upcoming legal surgeries here.

Legal representation

• Applying for representation: we will continue to take on cases wherever possible. More details coming very soon.
• Current clients: if you already work with us and you have an ongoing court case or other legal process, our solicitors will get in touch with you to discuss any information and changes relevant to your case.

FollowItApp

• Downloading the app: if you are a woman experiencing stalking, you can still download FollowItApp to record incidents of stalking. Although the download process remains the same, we may take longer than usual to respond.
• Requesting a log of recorded incidents: users of the app can request a report with all the information they’ve logged. Again, we may take longer than usual in our response, but we will do everything we can to get this done within our usual time frame (5 working days).

Other support

We know you might be worried about how the current circumstances might have an impact on you if you have experienced or are experiencing abuse. There are several organisations that can offer you support. We recommend getting in touch with the following helplines for emotional and practical support:

Rape Crisis Scotland – 08088 01 03 02 (6pm – midnight)

Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage helpline - 0800 027 1234 (open 24/7)

National Stalking Helpline – 0808 802 0300 (daily 9:30 am – 4 pm, except Wednesday 1 pm – 4 pm)

Revenge Porn helpline – email help@revengepornhelpline.org.uk

Victim Support Scotland’s helpline - 0800 160 1985 (Mon-Fri, 8am-8pm)

Breathing Space helpline - 0800 83 85 87 (Mon-Thur, 6pm to 2am and Fri 6pm-Mon 6am

Last updated: 20 March 2020