Practical and Emotional Support Outreach Worker
Background Information for applicants
1.Introduction to RCTN
Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland was first established in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1978 in response to a growing awareness of the extent of physical and sexual violence experienced by women and the impact this can have on individual women, families, communities, police and health services. At this time, a movement to reduce the instances and impact of sexual violence against women led to the establishment of Rape Crisis Centres across the UK. RCTN is now the longest established Rape Crisis Support Service in the UK and celebrates it’s 40th anniversary this year.
When we were originally set up, RCTN was called Tyneside Rape Crisis Centre (TRCC) which operated across Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and under the name ‘Grace’ in Northumberland. The organisation’s name was changed to Rape Crisis Tyneside Northumberland(RCTN) in April 2013 after a review of the governance structure.
RCTN provides a range of specialist support services for anyone who identifies as a woman or girl who have experienced any form of sexual violence. The organisation is run by women for women, with a strong feminist ethos and specialises in providing helpline/e-mail support, group work, specialist practical and emotional support and counselling to enable clients to address the wide-ranging impact of sexual violence on their lives.Activist work is also undertaken against the attitudes and behaviours which collude in allowing sexual violence to continue.
Mission Statement
The organisation has agreed a mission statement as follows:
- To provide a range of services to support women who have experienced sexual violence
- To raise awareness about sexual violence against women and to actively challenge the values, beliefs and behaviour which contribute to women’s oppression
Values and Principles
The work of RCTN is underpinned by a strong set of values, chief amongst these are:
- A feminist organisation run by and for women
- Ally with and support other feminist organisations
- Women centred ethos
Statement of Feminism
Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland is a feminist organisation. Feminism informs RCTN’s ethos, activities and the way in which we deliver our services.
The following beliefs inform RCTN:
- Sexual violence is not an individual event but a manifestation of a male dominated society
- Sexual violence is a cause and consequence of gender inequality
- The threat of sexual violence is a way of controlling women
As a feminist organisation RCTN:
- Believes women
- Provides a woman only space
- Actively challenges myths and victim blaming throughout our work
- Collectivises the experience/s of individual women to help women understand their own experiences of sexual violence
Feminism informs RCTN’s practice in challenging and changing the social acceptance of sexual violence.
2.Background to Specialist P&EOutreach Worker Role
In 2015 RCTN designed and implemented a Specialist Practical and Emotional Support service as women identified they had needs they wanted us to help them with beyond the services we already provided.
The high uptake of services demonstrated the necessity of the service, which the Northumbria PCC has funded since 2016 and is guaranteed until March 2019. This includes funding for a part time outreach worker to deliver specialist practical and
emotional support to female survivors of sexual violence in our outreach bases across Northumbria.
The outreach worker will co-produce a support/action plan with her clientsand refer internally where appropriate (counselling, helpline, email support, group work, practical and emotional support) or refer/signpost to an external organisation. A key aspect of this role will be supporting women who are thinking about reporting, and supporting them with their decision, including acting as an advocate through criminal justice processes. Any work involved with criminal justice processes will be discussed with Practical and Emotional Support Coordinator, who is a qualified ISVA, to ensure that we do not jeopardise any potential case. Due to the impact that sexual violence has, the outreach worker will have a caseload that includes clients with multiple and complex needs.
3.Recruitment Process
Please complete the Application Form and return it to Private and Confidential, Jacqueline Hall, RCTN, PO Box 1320, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE99 5DX or . If you submit the application by email, we will ask to see a signed application form if you are invited for interview.
Applications must be submitted by09/03/2018 at 12pm
If you require an acknowledgement of your application, please either send a stamped, addressed envelope with your application or mention this in the covering email.The applications will be assessed against selection criteria based on the job description and person specification. Those applicants who best meet the criteria will be invited to a panel interview which will be conducted on the 19/03/2018.
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