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SARCS Campaign - Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week (Monday 3 - Sunday 9 February 2025)

This Sexual Abuse & Sexual Violence Awareness Week we’re highlighting the important service that SARCS in Scotland offers. NHS Scotland's Sexual Assault Response Coordination Services (SARCS) provides crucial healthcare and support in the days after rape or sexual assault. This confidential service is available even if you're not ready to report it to the police.

The service is open to anyone aged 16 or over through the national telephone service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The staff at SARCS provide immediate healthcare support and can undertake a forensic medical examination if appropriate, Forensic evidence can be stored for up to 26 months at a SARCS. Full details are available at nhsinform.scot/SARCS.

How to Support

Please share our campaign across your social channels this week to help raise awareness of the service. 

A Stakeholder Toolkit is available and contains the following:

This leaflet is also available to download in Arabic, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Polish, Urdu, Gaelic and BSL

We will be sharing content on our Safer Scotland and Healthier Scotland Facebook pages. Please feel free to share these posts throughout the week. Find out more about Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week here.

Thank you for your support in sharing this very important message.