A safe place

Services

LGBT+ Advocacy

If you are lesbian, gay, bi, trans + and have ever been subjected to rape, sexual assault or sexual abuse at any point in your life, our specialist LGBT+ Advocacy Service, delivered by our two LGBT+ ISVAs (Independent Sexual Violence Advocates) are here to help and support you.

Since we work closely with Birmingham LGBT Centre you can also visit our drop-in service there, if you prefer to be seen at Birmingham LGBT Centre. We’re at the Centre every Thursday from 1pm to 6pm, for confidential advice or emotional support.

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.

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

– Giving you information if you’re unsure of whether you want to report to the police or not.

– 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 help to the people supporting you, your partner, family and friends, so that they can better support you.

– Arranging appointments, referring you to, or providing you with emotional support, when you need to attend other support services, such as Umbrella Sexual Health services (see below), LGBT+ services, and some types of health appointments e.g. hospital, doctors, dentists, opticians.

– Offering you 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. Our LGBT+ Advocates may even be able to 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 and 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.

To contact the LGBT+ ISVA service (run in partnership with Umbrella Sexual Health Services) speak to Bev Higgins or Ian Richards-Thomas on:

Telephone: 0121 643 0301 option 2

Email: isva@rsvporg.co.uk

For more information on our LGBT+ Advocacy service see

• Oscar’s blog (who was one of our previous LGBT+ Advocates here
• Bev’s blog (one of our current LGBT+ Advocates) here

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.  Find out more about the Abuse Survivors Clinic and about other sexual health services, including some services for LGBT+ people too.