Welcome to Part 1 of our October, 2024 Inspirational Interview with Lauren Kendall, CEO of Survivor Space Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom.
As a survivor of childhood sexual violence (CSV), Lauren is a passionate advocate for supporting children and families that have experienced sexual violence. Now that she is also mummy to her own amazing daughter, working to end violence against women and girls has never felt more important. Lauren has been CEO of Survivor Space Oxfordshire for nearly two years and is incredibly proud of the amazing work the charity, team, volunteers and board do for survivors in Oxfordshire. Outside of work, Lauren is happiest in or around water. She loves surfing (badly), sharks and the sea.
Part 2 of Lauren’s interview will be published 7 October, 2024.
All photos are courtesy of Survivor Space Oxfordshire.
1. How and why did you join the movement to end violence against women (VAW)?
My lived experience meant that I’d always been interested in local charities that work within the violence against women and girls (VAWG) space. I started working with Survivor Space when it was still Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre as a Listening Services Volunteer, supporting survivors on a free phone line. Following that, I moved out of Oxfordshire and continued working with the charity as a Line Buddy, supporting other volunteers after they’d been on the line. Speaking to other survivors reinforced my passion for helping others and for working towards a world free from VAWG.
2. Could you give us an overview about Survivor Space Oxfordshire, your programmes and campaigns, and your approach to stopping VAW?
Survivor Space Oxfordshire supports people that have experienced sexual violence in a number of ways. We offer 1:1 trauma-informed counselling, innovative group work, psychoeducation programmes and support from our team of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) who support people exploring the criminal justice system and will work with survivors to explain their options and what processes are like, and can accompany them to the police station or in court. We support survivors in a way that works for them.
All of our support services are free to those that need them.
Alongside this, we have close relationships with both the Oxford universities and schools in the area, and run consent workshops and training and education for various organisations and businesses in Oxfordshire. This outreach and education work is vital in helping to prevent sexual violence.
3. What are some of the particular challenges that Survivor Space Oxfordshire has faced and continues to face when tackling VAW in Oxfordshire?
One of our biggest challenges is funding. The funding we receive from our government covers a fraction of the costs we incur supporting survivors, and demand for all of our services has never been higher. We are consistently under-funded and under-staffed as a result. Despite being one of our biggest referrers, we receive no funding from the NHS, and an increasing number of centres are being forced to close to NHS referrals.
Due to huge demand, we had to close our waiting lists for our counselling services last year, and we have yet to re-open those. Our Community ISVA referrals are also closed at the moment.
Staff retention and recruitment are also challenges for us. Oxfordshire is an incredibly expensive place to live and we struggle to pay competitive salaries. Lots of our team also experience vicarious trauma and burnout and leave to pursue alternative careers.
4. One of the key services that Survivor Space Oxfordshire provides is that of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) who are trained sexual violence and criminal justice system specialists. The main role of ISVAs is “to provide information and support to victims and survivors who have reported to the police, or are yet to decide if they want to report.” Could you tell us about how this advocacy programme started and how it works for victims?
The Independent Sexual Violence Adviser role was commissioned by Baroness Stern through the Home Office Violent Crime Unit in 2005. Victims/survivors tell us that this support is invaluable, as they have a completely independent advocate who understands the complex systems and processes they may go through. Many survivors find reporting and the criminal justice system (CJS) traumatic; some find it more traumatic than the sexual harm they’ve experienced, and having an ISVA can be a real lifeline for them. As one survivor notes:
“I am fundamentally different to the way I was when I first was referred to OSARCC for help. The initial ISVA support I received from Florence was timely and instrumental in helping me feel heard and begin to start processing what had happened to me. She also helped me to access other support and to make me feel safe. This support helped me to function and get through what was a very difficult time of confusion and internal conflict.”
5. Survivor Space Oxfordshire provides sexual violence awareness courses for individuals and organisations, as well as consent training for colleges and universities. Has there been an increase in the number of people and organisations taking these courses in today’s post-#MeToo world and has Survivor Space Oxfordshire seen any changes in the attitudes of participants regarding rape culture including matters such as consent and victim-blaming?
We have excellent working relationships with both universities in Oxford. Both of them have an ISVA post seconded from Survivor Space and we run a huge number of consent workshops with the University of Oxford during Freshers’ Week. We have seen an increase in local businesses seeking support around training for sexual harassment and are working on bespoke training programmes with some of them.
We also work very closely with Thames Valley Police and have provided input and support for their training for police officers working with survivors of sexual violence, which has improved and should continue improving as we work together on this.
However, we do know there is lots more to be done. Social media influence and the increasing exposure many young men and boys have to violent and degrading pornography continues to have a negative impact on reinforcing rape culture. We have plans to provide more education and support to schools in Oxfordshire to try and help prevent this, and will be working closely with amazing partner organisations such as Internet Watch Foundation on this.
