Mike Findlay explains why Victim Support Scotland is sharing empowerment messages this Victims Awareness Week
It seems like hardly a day or week goes by without it being marked as an awareness raising exercise for a cause or a charity. It’s great to see so much passion and energy coming from the third sector in this regard, but this can make choosing a campaign theme more difficult each year.
This week marks Victims Awareness Week, the annual national week as recognised by Victim Support Scotland. It aims to champion the voices, experiences and rights of people affected by crime. It is timed to coincide with the European Day for Victims of Crime, which was on Monday 22 February.
When deciding on the theme for the week, we did admittedly have a back and forth to begin with. Colleagues from comms got together with our support workers on the frontline to thrash out some ideas.
After much discussion, we decided that this year’s campaign should respond to some of the results of a survey, and a number of interviews, that we conducted last year with our stakeholders and partners about their perceptions of Victim Support Scotland – what is working well, and what can be improved on. One of the themes coming out of this was around how there could be more general awareness about the breadth and depth to the services we provide.
‘Your space’ to get support
Anyone at any given time can be affected by a crime. As Scotland’s leading charity supporting people in the aftermath of crime, we feel it is important that everyone knows what rights and services they have access to irrespective of if they have experienced a crime or not.
We often talk about the ‘emotional support’ that Victim Support Scotland provides, but this can sometimes seem an abstract concept. We want everyone to know that there is somewhere they can come to talk freely about what’s happened to them, without judgement.
With all of this in mind, this year’s campaign is Your Space to get the support you need after a crime.
We are aiming to deepen everyone’s understanding of the emotional impact of crime, and what practical support everyone in Scotland can expect through our services.
We want to provide clarity about what people can expect: a safe place to talk about intense emotions following a crime that might be hard to express to friends and family; a non-judgemental place for feelings and reactions to be both understood and acknowledged; as well as insight into how someone’s journey through the criminal justice system can impact their mental health.
Throughout Victims Awareness Week we are putting out messages, blog posts and stories linked to the theme of Your Space. Each day has been focussing on a different aspect of support, for example - ‘Space to feel understood’, ‘Space to be informed’, ‘Space to consider options’ - with the hope that with this information, more victims and witnesses will feel encouraged to seek support – whether from us or our partners.
A number of people who we have supported have come forward and offered quotes and comments (including Ziggi’s below) about how they have felt more ‘confident’, ‘stronger; ‘safer’ and ‘listened-to’ as a result of Victim Support Scotland support.
Change and empowerment
Victim Support Scotland marked its 35th anniversary last year. Scotland has changed since the mid-1980s, and we have also had to adapt to keep up with the changing nature of crime.
Our free and confidential National Helpline has expanded its reach, and we launched our new webchat facility as part of our revamped website, allowing us to support even more victims and witnesses.
During the pandemic, we have seen a huge increase in demand for financial assistance from people impacted by crime. Through the Victims’ Fund, we’ve successfully managed to give support to hundreds of people in financial destitution helping them to purchase emergency household goods, food and clothing vouchers, and meet funeral costs.
As a charity, we have been keen that our messaging and images portray people that feel empowered, supported and in control of their future.
Young Hearts, Run Free
One such individual is Ziggi Battles, a Paisley born singer-songwriter, who recently used Victim Support Scotland’s service during a court case against her ex-partner.
Ziggi was inspired to record her own ‘stripped-back’ version of Candi Staton’s 1970s pop classic ‘Young Hearts, Run Free’ when she connected with the powerful lyrics.
Ziggi’s version of this song will be featured this weekend as part of Victims Awareness Week, as she explains:
“It’s tragic that there are so many women, and men, out there who feel they cannot escape the shackles of an abusive partner for whatever reason. I therefore wanted to record my own version of this song so that people who can relate to these lyrics feel empowered to do something about their own situation.
“I escaped hell on earth and now that I’ve finally got my freedom back, I am growing stronger every day with a much more positive outlook on my life. If I can escape abuse, other victims can too.”
For more details on Victims Awareness Week 2021 see:
https://victimsupport.scot/yourspace or follow @VSScotland.
Mike Findlay is head of communications and external affairs at Victim Support Scotland
