Helpline
24hr Answerphone
| Please leave a message with your contact details and someone will get back to you about how CARA might be able to help you |
Charity No. 1124282
Company No. 6525343
Patron:
Prof. Germaine Greer
©CARA 2008
Updated:
June 30, 2008
To read more and watch a video presentation
click here
CARA
is a confidential and non-judgemental support service for
women and young people who have been raped, sexually abused or assaulted either recently or in
the past and could involve a stranger, friend or family member.
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Myths and Facts about Rape Myths about rape are all about shifting the responsibility for the crime from the perpetrator to the victim. Rape and sexual assault are about power and violence, not sex. The vast majority of sexual assaults are planned carefully and are not committed because of uncontrollable sexual urges.  more...
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Date and Acquaintance Rape Date rape - A concept which has reached us from the U.S. Rape perpetrated within the confines of a ‘date’ situation i.e. where the woman has willingly met the man, but then at some stage has been raped. Acquaintance rape - Rape perpetrated by a person known to the victim, but not a close friend. May be known through employment or general social contact. more...
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Short and Long Term Effects of Rape and Sexual Assault The trauma experienced by women and girls following rape and/or sexual assault may manifest itself either immediately after the attack or, as is frequently the case, some long time afterwards. more...
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Self Harm From our perspective, apparently self-destructive behaviour is usually in reality a survival mechanism. Self-harm is often seen as the voice of the silenced or hidden self - it is a way of demonstrating in a physical way feelings which cannot be expressed emotionally. Survivors often keep their self-inflicted injuries secret in the same way as they keep their feelings hidden. more...
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Childhood Sexual Abuse It is estimated that approximately one in three girls and one in six boys have experienced some form of sexual abuse by the time they reach the age of 16.More than three quarters of children who are abused, know and trust their abuser, whether that may be their Father, Grandfather, Step-father, neighbour, baby-sitter or close friend of the family. more...
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There is a forum where survivors can participate in a self help
group. The forum is regulated by members of CARA. |
| About CARA The
Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse
(formerly
Colchester Rape Crisis Line)
is a
confidential support service run by women for women and girls and young
men under the age of 19 who have suffered any form of sexual violence,
past or present. We provide face-to-face counselling for rape and child
sexual abuse, but we have far more requests for this service than we can
accommodate within our existing resources. We offer an advocacy service
and accompany women to the police, to court or to the GUM clinic if they
request it, dependent upon volunteer availability. We are also looking
at other ways in which we can expand our services, but these will depend
on funding If you are a friend, supporter or any other relationship apart
from partner, be very clear about boundaries, the person you care about has been abused
enough, boundaries must be very clear to enable the person to heal. Don’t ask
them why they didn’t fight back or do something to prevent the abuse. This kind of
questioning intimates that they were in some way responsible for what happened to them.
The blame must always lie with the abusers. Without the enthusiasm and dedication of our volunteers, we would not have been able to achieve as much as we have, so they need to be applauded. What Volunteers can expect. Flashbacks Many women who are survivors of any form of sexual violence experience flashbacks at
one time or another. Flashbacks are temporary
states of remembering something painful or traumatic which has been hidden for quite some
time in the subconscious mind and during a flashback; you may feel as though aspects of
the rape or sexual assault are actually happening to you now. The duration of a flashback differs and could
last from a few seconds to a few hours.
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