Essex amidst a "sexual violence pandemic" as 300 new referrals seen every month at Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse
They have a main base in Colchester, and other sites across the county
Essex is amidst a "sexual violence pandemic" according to a centre in Essex that helps victims and survivors of sexual violence and child sexual abuse.
The Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse (CARA) sees 300 new referrals every month, and just under 4000 every year.
87% of people that come to them are women and girls, mostly because of rape and sexual assault.
They say that sexual violence is more prevalent than is often reported in the county, and they believe that societal change is needed to fix the issue.
Sarah Clementson, from the non-profit, said their referrals "have always been high", and that sexual violence leaves a "life-long impact".
"25% of our referrals are for people who have experienced sexual violence or sexual assault within a domestic abuse setting. And in terms of perpetrators, the vast majority, so 93% of our service users, were abused by someone that they already knew.
"So two in five rapes against women are carried out by their partner or ex-partner and six in seven rapes against women are carried out by someone they know.
"Prevalence hasn't changed. The reality is that sexual violence and child sexual abuse are very common.
"We've long been living in a sexual violence pandemic.
"Sexual violence isn't as hidden in plain sight as it once was, but there are still many myths and misconceptions. But the reality is we're not seeing enough change."
Sarah said that the government's violence against women and girls strategy is a good start for action, yet more fundamental change is needed to fight the issue.
"The government has a very high-profile goal of halving male violence against women and girls by 2034, which we really welcome as a very ambitious and admirable target. However, male violence against women and girls is an endemic issue. We really do need to see fundamental societal and criminal reform for meaningful change. We also need to name male violence and not shy away from the facts and statistics. The majority of perpetrators are men, and the majority of victims and survivors are women and girls. This is a gendered crime."
"We really need to see complete societal shift to end male violence against women and girls and end rape culture. It's really vital that we do see this focus and that we have these difficult conversations around the realities of male violence against women and girls.
"It's why telling women not to walk home by themselves late at night isn't going to fix this situation. We must look at the whole spectrum of sexual violence and male violence against women and girls.
"The majority of victims and survivors never report their experiences to the police for many reasons. So police statistics really are the tip of the iceberg compared to actual incidents. So only 17% of people ever report what's happened to them."
CARA Essex works with anyone from any age and any gender.
Sarah said: "We're a specialist organisation providing specialist services for victims and survivors of any kind of sexual violence or child sexual abuse, and we work with all ages and all genders. We're trauma informed, we empower our service users and respond to the needs and experiences of the individual, offering a really non-judgmental space where we believe victims and survivors. We see the huge impact that trauma has on victims and survivors' lives, and that can be lifelong, and we're really a place for safety and healing."