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Children & Young People’s Services

We offer help called advocacy to under 18s. Our trained staff are called Independent Sexual Violence Advocates (ISVAs). Apart from supporting you, they can also help the family and friends who are supporting you.

Our ISVAs  make sure your voice is heard; they will help you understand what people are saying to you and help you say what you want to say. They will make sure your needs are met and that you are listened to.

Click here to check out our Support for Supporters Programme. This is for all adults/supporters who are supporting children & young people who have been subjected to sexual violence & abuse.

To explore our Support Group for Parents and Carers – Autumn 2026 Group Cycle, please click on the button below for details:

Click here to explore our Children & Young People’s Services Leaflet. 

If you are 18 years of age and over, please visit our Adult Advocacy page.

We can support you by:

–Ensuring your individual views, opinions, wishes and needs are understood, respected, listened to and met by all the agencies supporting you. The Victims’ Code outlines the minimum level of service and response that you are entitled to (see below). While there is no legal requirement under the Victims’ Code for the agencies supporting you to uphold these levels, our ISVA team will advocate on your behalf to ensure that your needs are understood, respected, listened to and met by all agencies supporting you.

– Offering crisis support, or answering any question, worry or concern you might have which relates to the sexual abuse you’ve experienced.

– Giving you information and support around the criminal justice system

– Offering emotional and practical help if you have already reported to ensure you understand and receive your legal rights and entitlements, e.g. special measures in court where you give evidence from behind a screen or via a video link.

– Offering compassionate support to the people who are supporting you, your partner, family and friends, so that they can better support you.

– Talking to school or college for you.

– Arranging appointments, referring you to, or providing you with emotional support over the telephone, when you need to attend other support services, such as Umbrella Sexual Health services, young person’s services, and some types of health appointments e.g. hospital, doctors, dentists, opticians.

– Our CYP ISVAs can offer support before, during and after certain types of health appointments, which you may find distressing or triggering due to the sexual abuse you were subjected to. We can even chaperone you to some health appointments, such as intimate medical healthcare, to ensure that your needs and wishes are understood and that you don’t feel alone. If you would like to have this type of support, please call our ISVA team on 0121 643 0301 (option 2) to discuss how we can help. Read more on our Health Support page.

– Informing you of other options you might have such as Civil Action, Criminal Injuries, Compensation Award,  self-reporting, and anonymous reporting.

We can also offer you counselling. Counselling is a safe place where you can talk to people that believe you and care about your feelings. Counselling is one way of talking about how the abuse has affected you, with someone who will listen and give you space to explore the things that are bothering you. Our trained counsellors listen with empathy and sensitivity. They don’t judge; their aim is to explore feelings and to support you in the decisions you make.

Please call us, we’re happy to talk to you about other support available to you.

West Midlands Children and Young Persons Sexual Assault Service

The West Midlands Children and Young Persons Sexual Assault Service (CYPSAS) is available on call via 0330 233 0099 (lines open 24/7). This service offers comprehensive support open 365 days a year through their children and young people’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC). This is a ‘one-stop’ service to children from birth to 17 years old and 18 to 25-year-olds who present with complex needs, who has been the victim of rape, sexual violence, sexual exploitation and/or sexual abuse.

This regional service is available for those living within the West Midlands. Service locations include Birmingham and Solihull, the Black Country, Coventry and Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent.

The West Midlands CYPSAS offers medical assessment; forensic examination to gather evidence; medical care and treatment and aftercare. They also offer crisis care, emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections.

Young people who are aged 13 and over, can make a direct self-referral to the West Midlands CYPSAS without involving the police, although all referrals will have a safeguarding referral. Please click here to explore a leaflet for young people. 

Umbrella Health

RSVP and Umbrella Health provide a dedicated sexual health clinic offering specialised services to support anyone aged 13 or over who has been subjected to sexual violence, abuse or exploitation at any time in their lives. Their services are free, accessible and confidential sexual health services in Birmingham and Solihull, including all types of contraception, and STI testing and treatment.

Find out more about the Abuse Survivors Clinic and about their other sexual health services too.

The Victims’ Code (2020)

Going to Court: A Guide For 5-11 Year Olds

Going to Court: A Guide for 12-17 Year Olds

Interactive Courtroom

A day in court can be daunting and overwhelming for anyone, especially a child. But you can be prepared at ease, in advance. Click here to explore an interactive courtroom, where there is lots in information to help you understand what happens when you are a witness in court.