Training

Knowledge is power. By engaging with communities it has been proven that incidents of sexual violence can be reduced. Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre offer a range of training workshops and presentations for schools, colleges and businesses covering issues related to sexual conduct. In this digital age, young people in particular, can benefit from open discussions regarding healthy sexual relationships.

Our objectives

To inform participants about what sexual violence is: rape, childhood sexual abuse and sexual assault both recent and non-recent.

To educate participants about the myths and realities of sexual violence.

To educate participants about the short-term and long-term psychological and physical effects of any form of sexual violence on an individual including trauma.

To educate participants on how to respond to a colleague/service user/friend when they first disclose an incident of sexual violence and then what to do/where to refer.

To inform participants about the services that exist within the county that support victims and survivors, what they do, why and how they complement one another including information about the criminal justice system and the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Types of  Training we offer

Handling Sexual Violence Disclosure Training

This online training brings together expertise from Hope House Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), Gloucestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre and research from the University of Gloucestershire. It will cover how best to support survivors, what you can do, and what survivors say isn’t helpful, and how to look after yourself.

Please contact us to find out when we're next running this session.

Bystander Training

Our aim is to work with people who can take part in reducing sexual harassment and challenge what can often be viewed as a ‘lower level’ behaviour that can potentially lead to more serious crime.

We are all bystanders as we go about our daily lives. We witness situations that cause harm, even when we are not directly involved. It can be difficult to decide whether or not to do anything in these situations.

Bystander training can help people become confident at safely and effectively intervening in harmful situations. Anyone can be an ‘active bystander’ – anyone can intervene positively in potentially harmful situations when given the right tools. The most common thing people tell us is that they want to do the right thing, but lack the confidence and skills to do so. This is what our training addresses: we teach people to be active bystanders and leaders. We help teams identify harmful situations and how to intervene safely.

We think that providing this training to organisations and schools in the community is invaluable to making women and girls feel safer in society and to hopefully prevent rape and sexual assault.

We often find that we do a lot of intervention work at GRASAC after the crime has happened. We want to be a part of the prevention of rape and sexual assault and inform people about the impact sexual and street harassment is having in our society.

For more information or to enquire about Bystander Training, please call the admin line on:01452 305421

Consent Training for Schools

We offer consent training in schools. This training focuses on the legal definition of consent but also practical examples of when and how consent can be given and what it means to consent.

This can be delivered in an assembly or as more of a discussion-based exercise in smaller groups, such as PHSE classes.

We can also cover healthy relationships with young people and the signs that a relationship may or may not be healthy.

In all our sessions we cover ‘signposting’ to other support services, and who to talk to if a young person is feeling worried.

For more information or to book Consent Training, please call the admin line on: 01452 305421.

Freely Given: Doing something sexual with someone is a decision that should be made without pressure, force, manipulation, or while drunk or high.

Reversible: Anyone can change their mind about what they want to do, at any time. Even if you’ve done it before or are in the middle of having sex.

Informed: Be honest. For example, if someone says they’ll use a condom and then they don’t, that’s not consent.

Enthusiastic: If someone isn’t excited, or really into it, that’s not consent.

Specific: Saying yes to one thing (like going to the bedroom to make out) doesn’t mean they’ve said yes to others (like oral sex).

Enquire here

If you are interested in training for your organisation or would like to discuss in more detail, please call the admin line on: 01452 305421

Get help

We recognise that reporting to the Police something that has happened without your consent, can feel intimidating and overwhelming.

Click the button relevant to your age group so we can direct you to the correct service for your situation and put you on the right path.