Safe Place Blog
Throughout International Women’s Day we have been celebrating and also raising awareness of sexual violence against women and girls. We know that information about sexual violence can be triggering and, even if not triggering, challenging to cope with. So, this is our safe space blog- a place where you can come if some of the content around International Women’s Day has felt perhaps a bit too much for you for today.
Remember, however you are feeling, you have clicked onto this blog and are doing something to help yourself feel differently right now. That in itself has taken decisive action and courage.
Tools to cope
There are many emotional responses to hearing about sexual violence and there is no right and wrong to respond to hearing this content. We know that sometimes we need some support in coping with the impacts of trauma and sexual violence. Below are some tools to help you cope, from relaxation resources to tools to help you cope with specific trauma responses that you can try at your own pace and see what works for you.
Webpage of resources to help you relax: Chayn’s Relax webpage is a bank of resources to help you indulge in different senses in a safe way to help you relax. From music to games, hopefully you will find something that works for you. https://www.chayn.co/relax
Webpage of tools to cope on specific trauma responses: Rape Crisis England and Wales tools to cope A set of resources with information about feelings, sleep problems, flashbacks, anxiety, blame, guilt and tips and techniques to help you with these.
https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-help/looking-for-tools-to-help-you-cope/
YouTube video: ‘Breathing to stop a panic attack’ YouTube video Use this Video to Stop a Panic Attack
Checklist poster: Sometimes we can feel stuck in our feelings or trauma, Carolyn’s stuckness poster has a series of open questions to help us consider our stuckness and what we may want to do to shift it https://www.carolynspring.com/shop/a-stuckness-checklist/
PDF Article: The journey of healing can feel scary and it’s hard to know where to begin, Rape Crisis Scotland’s short PDF talks about healing from sexual violence to consider this journey and some self-care tips for it https://www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/resources/healing.pdf
Poster: Carolyn’s Emergency box poster is a starting point to think about what you might want in your emergency box, like a first aid box, when you need to look after yourself and feel safe
https://www.carolynspring.com/shop/emergency-box/
Online article: Self-care techniques for women impacted by explore to sexual violence media coverage https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/self-care-techniques-women-impacted-exposure-sexual-violence-media-coverage
Organisations that can help
There are also organisations that can support you, if this is something you would like. It is completely your choice when and if you access support from an organisation. There is no timeline or deadline to healing and you deserve to go at a pace that feels right and safe for you. Below are a few organisations or webpage directories which you may find helpful.
Support After Rape and Sexual Violence Leeds – Leeds’ dedicated rape crisis centre offering counselling, advocacy and helpline support http://supportafterrapeleeds.org.uk/
Rape Crisis England and Wales – Live Chat service, National telephone helpline
Chayn – A global platform of online resources for survivors of gender-based violence https://www.chayn.co/
Galop – The UK’s LGBT+ anti-violence charity. Galop has a number of services, including a specialist helpline for those who have experienced abuse https://galop.org.uk/
WLL Consortium – A consortium of women’s and girls’ organisations running a number of different services for women and girls across Leeds https://www.womenslivesleeds.org.uk/
Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Support- LSLCS offer compassionate, non-medical, support to those experiencing mental health crisis with a number of different services https://www.lslcs.org.uk/
Mindwell directory – This website is a directory of support organisations on a range of different topics. It’s easy to navigate with clear categories to find a range of different support https://www.mindwell-leeds.org.uk/services-directory/
We hope that you may find some of these resources helpful. You deserve the time and space to find what works for you.