Sexual Assault Referral Centres Developing Good Practice and Maximising Potentials

The first Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) was established in Manchester in 1986 to address serious shortcomings in the medico-legal response to recent rape. SARCs have been highlighted as good practice in several reports, but minimal evaluation has been undertaken to date. This study focuses upon determining what effect the establishment of SARCs have had on the experiences of reporting rape, dealing with its immediate aftermath and whether Criminal Justice System responses were improved.