Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many rape crisis centres there are in England and Wales; and whether the Government plans to increase that number to 150, as recommended in the Istanbul Convention.

Rape and sexual violence are devastating crimes that can have life-long impacts on victims and survivors. This Government is committed to ensuring that every victim of rape and sexual assault will have access to quality support, appropriate to their needs, when they need it. This includes a commitment to increase funding for victim support services to £185 million by 2024/25 - more than quadruple the level in 2009/10.

Rape crisis and sexual abuse support centres are independent from the government. Their details are registered with the Charity Commission and Companies House. This government provides core funding across England and Wales via the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund to over 75 rape and sexual abuse support services which are run by these independent organisations.

The Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (England and Wales) has been extended for a further year until March 2023 to ensure support services have the funding stability they need. This allows for recommissioning for the next two years (2023/24 and 2024/25). The recommissioning process will take into consideration a wide range of factors to inform future funding decisions.