News/Blog

Embedding Learning: How the RISE@SWRC Project opened further opportunities for development of a needs-based approach to services

A large focus of our work is making legal information and support accessible to survivors of gender-based violence – many of whom experience numerous barriers in finding suitable support and pursuing justice. As part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence this year, we wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on learning from the Scottish Government funded RISE@SWRC pilot project which ran between July 2021 – March 2022.

RISE@SWRC was a short pilot project offering judgement-free legal and advocacy support for women involved in selling or exchanging sex that had been impacted by gender-based violence at any time in their life. As part of our work to improve the accessibility of SWRC services, it was identified that women engaged in selling or exchanging sex may experience additional barriers in accessing the SWRC. This was analogous with findings from consultations by the Home Office and the Scottish Government which also identified a need for support – legal or otherwise – that we sought to address through the RISE@SWRC pilot project aims:

To inform women who are involved in selling or exchanging sex of their rights and how to exercise them in relation to experiences of GBV.

To identify and address barriers to promote access to SWRC services for women survivors of GBV involved in selling or exchanging sex.

To inform and support the development of good practice responses for women survivors of GBV involved in selling or exchanging sex.

In meeting these aims, we provided:

• Flexibly available legal appointments with specialist solicitors, booked through an online form or by stakeholder referrals.
• Online forms and referrals could be completed anonymously or using an alias for confidentiality.
• Stakeholder engagement sessions, alongside regular e-mail updates for stakeholders which helped to build and maintain relationships. These were essential in gathering active feedback through the project to inform future service delivery.
• An advocacy service was available throughout.
• Resources including blogs, factsheets and a legal guide covering a range of issues identified during stakeholder engagement.
• We saw promotion of RISE@SWRC and our other services in the Scotsman and we were able to build our online presence on Instagram and with video content on YouTube, that included our team of solicitors.

During the pilot project, we have faced several challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in an increase in the number of requests for support we received through our helpline. To paint a picture: we answered a 200% increase in calls to our Helpline while simultaneously, we saw a 300% increase in the number of calls that we were unable to answer. This really illustrates the heightened demand during this period, with limited capacity.

To assist with the delivery of the RISE@SWRC pilot and the demand on our services, a part-time advocacy worker contributed to the development and staffing of a new helpline triage service launched during the pilot to better manage capacity and improve overall accessibility. Alongside the legal team at JustRight Scotland (JRS), she supported the development of online resources including a series of blogs on subjects identified by stakeholders, an immigration rights leaflet and a social media factsheet.

RISE@SWRC contributed important learning to improving access to SWRC services. While referrals to the RISE@SWRC were limited, it was suggested that women involved in selling or exchanging sex were likely to already be accessing SWRC services and choosing not to disclose that aspect of their life.

Feedback from stakeholders and experiential learning from the project suggested that a distinct legal service was not necessarily needed to reach women engaging in selling or exchanging sex and that the longer-term accessibility of SWRC services can be enhanced by embedding RISE@SWRC learning in to the mainstream services of SWRC, while explicitly stating the service is open and relevant to women engaging in selling or exchanging sex.

Although the RISE@SWRC pilot has concluded, SWRC has ensured that the practical and experiential learning is not lost. As such, a significant amount of work has gone into future resourcing and planning of SWRC services based on the learning and resources generated by RISE@SWRC including:

Continued engagement with stakeholders across the sector working with women involved in selling or exchanging sex including skill sharing sessions to promote access to SWRC.

Further resources have been published and developed. We currently have a Housing Guide for survivors in the pipeline alongside Shelter Scotland and Scottish Women’s Aid which we will be excited to share soon.

SWRC service posters and leaflets are being updated with a view to distributing in locations women involved in selling/exchanging sex are likely to access.

SWRC is preparing to launch a new website with enhanced accessibility and an updated inclusion statement which makes explicitly clear that the services are open and relevant to women engaging in selling or exchanging sex.

Enhanced capacity in the Advocacy team has enabled the continued delivery of the advocacy triage service and increased advocacy casework capacity.