Our Independent Sexual Violence Advisors, (ISVAs) can assist and support you in the weeks and months after an assault.

ISVA’s support people of all ages and all genders who have experienced sexual abuse regardless of when this happened.

At Saint Mary’s SARC we have both a dedicated Adult ISVA Team and a Child and Young Person’s ISVA Team to meet the needs of our communities in Greater Manchester. 

An ISVA can offer support before, or after, someone has reported to the Police.

They provide independent information and support throughout the criminal justice process, supporting people to make informed choices throughout each step of the process regardless of the outcome.

We support people regardless of what stage of the process they are at; whether considering our options, or the case is already progressing through the Criminal Justice Process, we welcome any enquiries for support.

ISVA’s are independent to other agencies however we regularly liaise with the Police, Crown Prosecution Service and the courts to ensure you are kept informed of developments and importantly, are offered timely support in relation to updates about the investigation into your sexual abuse experience.

An ISVA will be able to answer any questions you might have about the criminal justice process and can attend court with you, if that is what you want.

The support you need may differ to the next person but for all our service users we will provide the following:

 

  • Contact within five days of a medical examination or a referral being made to us.
  • Explain our service, confidentiality, and safeguarding process.
  • Offer an initial individual ISVA support assessment.
  • Agree a safety and support plan with you, that is individual to you, age appropriate and trauma informed. We will review this as your needs may change throughout your journey with us.
  • Practical and emotional support.
  • Regular contact that suits your communication preferences.
  • Referrals to other agencies as needed i.e. statutory services, housing support, GP, counselling.
  • Support in reporting to the police if you need.
  • Provide a detailed understanding of the court process and the criminal justice system so that you can make informed choices.
  • Attendance with you at police interviews and court proceedings.
  • Be a liaison between you, the police, the CPS and barristers acting on your behalf.
  • Advice and support with criminal justice outcomes.
  • Emotional support and guidance with family, parents or carers if required.
  • Advice in regard to applying for Criminal Injuries Compensation

 

Child and Young Person’s ISVA Team. 

  • We work age appropriately and directly with children and young people while also being able to support parents and carers.
  • Like above, the support we offer will be informed by an initial individual ISVA support assessment and support plan.

Link to our NHS Manchester Foundation Trust Strategy

What the MFT Values and Strategy means for you when you work with your ISVA:

  • We will listen to you, what your goals and needs are and build a support plan with you at the centre.
  • Your ISVA will work collaboratively with you, and others, to make sure that you receive the right support for your health and wellbeing.
  • We will explain our policies and procedures to you including safeguarding and confidentiality.
  • We are a service for everyone.
  • We will monitor the feedback you choose to provide us of your experience, including any service outcomes, with the aim to close any gaps identified in the service.
  • We will continue to strengthen our existing partnerships at all levels to improve our clients experience in the future.
  • We will explain how we use anonymous data to continue our pioneering research and development within services for people who have experience sexual abuse.  

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As part of our SARC annual plan, we are working towards accreditation as an ISVA service, this will be to make sure we are meeting national quality standards.

We also aim to improve our methods of feedback from the people who use our service overall.  As someone who may have used the ISVA service, or is currently using the ISVA service, you can share feedback with us at any time in a few ways:

You Said… We Listen…

From collating our clients feedback we can then develop the service by responding to what you say.

“I appreciated the patience and understanding when I didn’t want to talk”
– Adult anonymous feedback 

“Having time and space between contact with my ISVA and our planned calls gave me time to think and not feel overwhelmed”
 – Teenage anonymous feedback 

  • We will discuss the level of support you want and need with you to create your individual support and frequency of contact. We know this may be different to the next person using the service.

 “The ISVA was at court with us and made the family feel at ease. We knew they were there when if we had questions.”
 – Anonymous carer feedback 

  • While we offer a Child and Young Persons ISVA Service, we know that support for parents and carers is key to supporting that young person too.

 “I didn’t know I could leave feedback”
 – Anonymous feedback 

  • The Saint Mary’s Team is pro-actively looking at ways to improve how we gauge your feedback, please get in touch to share your ideas and thoughts on our service.