Tyne and Wear Museums are encouraging local women and girls to explore their collections and get involved in creating their first Women’s Collection.

If you’d like to take part or want to know more: https://twmuseums.org.uk/women-of-tyneside

Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland is running its next 8-week evening group from mid-October in central Newcastle. RCTN groups are for any woman aged 16 or over who lives, works or studies in Tyneside and Northumberland and has experienced sexual violence at any time in her life. The group offers a safe, supportive space to meet other women, explore myths around sexual violence and practice self-care and positive coping mechanisms.

The Guardian reported that the refusal rate for people applying to stay in the UK after suffering domestic violence more than doubled between 2012 and 2016 after the government pledged to make the UK a “hostile environment for illegal immigrants”. A new rule, which allowed people who entered the UK on a spousal visa and then suffered domestic abuse, the right to apply for leave to remain, was introduced in 2002 after campaigners argued that women were being forced to choose between deportation and continued abuse or domestic violence.

The University of Suffolk and the charity Survivors in Transition have published research looking at the impact of delayed disclosure and access to services and support for those who experienced sexual abuse in their childhood.