Redcar charity funding cut 'leaves sexual violence victims ostracised'

Eva Women's Aid's counselling service is in doubt after April, it said

Halting funding for a sexual violence support service has left "vulnerable victims ostracised", a report has said.

A grant application from Eva Women's Aid in Redcar, which helps victims of rape and sexual abuse, was rejected by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in June.

The MoJ said it funded a service in Middlesbrough and had given the police and crime commissioner (PCC) £650,000 to help local victims.

But PCC Barry Coppinger said the MoJ decision was "extremely short sighted".

A Cleveland police and crime panel report said the future of the Redcar service remained uncertain.

"Unfortunately, Eva was not successful in this competitive process - leaving their counselling service at risk of closing and an infinite number of vulnerable victims ostracised and unable to access vital services - especially those within rural communities," it said.

Mr Coppinger said it was "extremely impractical" to expect residents from East Cleveland to travel to another charity in Middlesbrough for counselling.

He found £40,500 in August to keep the service going until March.

'Quite resolute'

Eva Women's Aid received money from the Rape Support Fund until changes last year meant the charity had to compete for funds.

Chief executive Richinda Taylor said it had other sources of finance but there was uncertainty over whether its counselling service would continue after April.

"We're not closing and there will still be a large number of services available but, at the moment, there is still uncertainty surrounding counselling," she said. 

"The MoJ has been quite resolute that they are not going to revisit their decision." 

Cleveland Police recorded 19,657 domestic abuse-related incidents in 2018/19, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Figures from that year also showed there was a higher rate of sex offending on Teesside than anywhere else in the country.