A Kilmarnock charity dedicated to supporting victims of sexual abuse gave a speech in Edinburgh last week.
Break The Silence were invited to the COSLA Conference Centre to speak at an event aimed at increasing ways to put victims of sexual abuse first in the justice system, organised by Holyrood Events.
The charity’s chief executive officers Lesley Craig and Sharon Belshaw gave a presentation entitled ‘Next Steps Towards A Victim-Centred Justice System’.
The talks were chaired by Dr Katy Proctor, lecturer in criminology and policing at Glasgow Caledonian University, with the event attended by Humza Yousaf MSP, the cabinet secretary for justice, who also gave a speech.
Other speakers included QC John Scott, Kate Wallace, chief executive of Victim Support Scotland and Mary Glasgow the chief executive of Children 1st.
As part of Break The Silence’s speech, Lesley and Sharon shared “George’s Story” detailing the experiences of a survivor who has been supported by the service.
George made the decision to speak out after 50 years in order to highlight the trauma he experienced and the life-long impact abuse has.
The speech covered the theme of ‘The Power of Silence’ – detailing the levels of referrals, the impact of complex trauma and how hard it can be for people speaking out.
