For more than three years’ didlaw has supported the rape and sexual abuse survivor, turned feminist campaigner #SarahSurviving with her claims for harassment and indirect discrimination against the rape crisis service, The Survivors’ Network. The facts of #SarahSurviving’s case can be found here:
Help Sarah’s Legal Challenge to Secure Female Only Rape Crisis Therapy
The case centred around the provision of single sex services for sexual trauma survivors as #SarahSurviving believes, along with many other women who have experienced such trauma first hand, that there must be a single sex option for support and therapy. It is imperative for women such as #SarahSurviving that they are able to share their experiences with other biological women in a space where they feel safe and protected.
Many women suffer trauma responses when having to articulate their experiences in front of men, as was the case with #SarahSurviving when she attended a peer support group with a biological male in attendance. As a result #SarahSurviving suffered a severe trauma response and felt unable to continue attending the sessions. Thereafter she self-excluded from the service and has been left struggling, unable to find alternative provision in a peer-group setting. It is this collective female-only environment that can provide so much comfort for women who have suffered sexual violence and trauma, at the hands of men.
When we talk about men and women here, we mean biological men and women.
As a result of #SarahSurviving’s case, and her tenacity and commitment to supporting other women, she has secured the provision of a single sex service being piloted by The Survivors’ Network. She is now working with The Survivor’s Network on how the service should be run and the best way to reach out to as many women who need this service as possible.
Didlaw, through Elizabeth McGlone and with the stellar support of Karon Monaghan KC, Naomi Cunningham and Beth Grossman, have advised, guided and counselled #SarahSurviving through the protracted and complex civil court landscape. It has been an absolute honour to be involved in this case, and we hope that both as a result of this case, and the judgment in For Women Scotland, more women will secure the single sex services they need to recover from the trauma sustained from sexual abuse.
The joint statement of the parties can be found here:
Legal Challenge Update – Survivors Network
A statement from #SarahSurviving can be found here:
