Rape Crisis is a network of centres across the UK that ‘provides co-ordination and support to affiliated member groups and campaigns and lobbies to raise awareness of the issues of sexual violence in the wider community and with local, regional and national government.’ In 1973 the organisation was set up in England and Wales. The first Rape Crisis centre to open in Scotland was in Glasgow in 1976 with the Scottish Government funding Scotland Rape Crisis who currently have 17 member centres.
In 1984 there were 68 Rape Crisis centres in the UK and in 2023 there are 39 member centres in England and Wales. Many Rape Crisis Centres are severely underfunded, with only one in five managing to attain the full funding that they require.