News/Blog

Celebrating a decade of the SWRC

On Tuesday 15th April, the SWRC celebrated our tenth anniversary with a special event at the University of Strathclyde, marking a decade of work supporting women survivors of gender-based violence in Scotland to access justice.

Katy Mathieson and Siobhian Brown MSP

Alongside presentations from SWRC staff, survivors and partners, the event also included the launch of our brand new interactive timeline, commissioned to celebrate highlights from the last ten years. The timeline includes key moments in SWRC history - from landmark legal cases to pioneering projects and the development of our legal, advocacy and training work -  as well as reflections from people who were there at the time and played an important role in SWRC history. We also look forward to keeping the timeline updated as our work continues into the future. To explore the whole timeline on our website, just click here.  

The event was chaired by Katy Mathieson, Director of Justice Services at Rape Crisis Scotland, who opened the celebration by outlining the SWRC’s mission and thanking our partners, funders, staff, and the women who have placed their trust in us throughout the years and shaped our work over the last decade. 

Siobhian Brown MSP, Minister for Victims and Community Safety, was first to address the audience, taking the opportunity to congratulate SWRC on our anniversary but also reflecting on the work still to do to ensure all victims/survivors can access justice in Scotland. Legislation currently going through the Scottish Parliament will play an important role, she said, but more work is needed, including legal aid reform. 

Siobhian Brown MSP, Minister for Victims and Community Safety

The Minister ended her remarks by sharing her admiration “for those who have not only utilised [SWRC] services, but who have consequently seen some light in our justice system.

“We owe it to them to ensure access to sustainable support and services, and to tackle violence against women and girls in Scotland,” she said. 

Throughout the afternoon, staff from the SWRC spoke about our legal, advocacy and participation work, reflecting on how SWRC services have developed over the years and thanking those, including student volunteers from the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic, who have been vital in the organisation’s history.

Slide thanking the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic

Attendees also heard powerful reflections from survivors who have accessed SWRC services over the past decade. Campaigner Miss M made legal history in 2017 when, with representation from the SWRC, she established in civil proceedings that she was raped following a criminal trial which ended in a ‘not proven’ verdict. She has gone on to campaign with Rape Crisis Scotland for the end of the ‘not proven’ verdict.

Miss M spoke movingly about what it meant to her to pursue civil justice with the support of the SWRC: “I didn’t feel I had justice after the ‘not proven’ verdict - I felt lost and isolated,” she said. “But when I found the SWRC, I felt believed and supported and I found my voice again.”

Aileen, a member of SWRC’s Lived Expertise Panel (LEP) on dual and malicious reporting, also sent some reflections on her participation in the LEP to be read out to attendees. “The SWRC created a safe space for me to experience difficult emotions and process traumatic things, without fear of judgement and rejection,” she wrote. “I felt believed and that my experience and feelings mattered…This work has given so much recognition, appreciation and affirmation to those affected, and in many ways has been the justice and fairness that many of us have deserved.”

SWRC’s Clair Jones presenting

The afternoon’s final speaker was family law solicitor and SWRC Advisory Board member Helen Hughes, who spoke about the solicitor training, signposting network and pro-bono helpline which she has helped SWRC to deliver throughout the years.

Closing the event, Helen called on decision-makers to listen to women’s lived experiences and take action as a result. “We might have wonderful laws in Scotland, but how can you access them if you don’t get legal aid or there aren’t enough lawyers who take it?” she asked. Finally, she said, to everyone else in the room and beyond, “it’s all of our jobs to find the solution - we’re all in this together. I congratulate SWRC for all the great work they do, and I look forward to being involved as the years go on.”