We believe in women and girls.

We believe in listening to survivors when they speak.

We know that sexual violence is real and too common.

We know that it can have long term impacts on those who experience it.

We believe rape culture is real. We know that it leads to survivors being undermined by myths and stigmas surrounding sexual violence. This sadly also means that sometimes survivors are not believed when they speak about their experiences. We are part of a movement working to fight against and end rape culture.

We believe society tells us to repress and forget about our experiences and this hides the reality of abuse and sexual violence.

We know that you may have experienced disbelief from some people. Some people may have asked unhelpful questions. Sadly, you may have even felt blamed for what someone else has chosen to do to you. We want you to know, you are not to blame for what happened to you.

For over 45 years, we have been part of the Rape Crisis movement, working with thousands of survivors. Through survivors sharing their experiences, we have developed our specialism, along with working with other professionals and academics in the field.

We know that the fear, threat and experience of sexual violence is a reality for women and girls, in Tyneside, Northumberland and across the world.

We know that when survivors speak about sexual violence, she is telling the truth.

We work to break down the stigma and myths that surround sexual violence. We will continue to work with survivors to create campaigns like #WishISaid, #ItAllAddsUp and Roll Down Your Skirt to reflect a truer picture of sexual violence.

We want you to know that when you feel able to speak about sexual violence, we will listen, we will hear you and we will believe you.

We believe we can make a change.

We believe we can end rape culture.

We believe we can end violence towards women and girls.

We believe you.