The Ministry of Justice has awarded £8.7 million to Rape Crisis England and Wales to continue the national 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line. According to the government announcement, the grant will run from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2029 and will keep a free, confidential and trauma-informed service in place for people aged 16 and over in England and Wales. The service is intended for victim-survivors of rape, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence, whether the abuse is recent or historic. In policy terms, the award secures continuity in a national access point at a time when ministers are linking victim support more closely to their stated violence against women and girls goals.
Ministry of Justice figures indicate that, since its launch in 2022, the support line has handled more than 200,000 calls and 75,000 webchats. Those volumes point to sustained demand for specialist support outside local office hours and beyond formal justice settings. For commissioners, police forces and third-sector providers, a round-the-clock national line functions as first contact, emotional support and referral. It also gives survivors a route to support before any decision is made about reporting to the police, seeking medical care or engaging with court proceedings.
The government has framed the funding as part of its stated commitment to halve violence against women and girls and to deliver swifter justice for victims. In the Ministry of Justice announcement, Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones said too many survivors had been left unsure where to turn and presented the helpline as a reliable point of contact for information and emotional support. That framing places the grant within a wider justice policy rather than treating it as a stand-alone charity award. The line is intended to support immediate wellbeing, but it also has a role in victim confidence, disclosure and onward engagement with specialist services.
Rape Crisis England and Wales said the service will continue to provide specialist support on a confidential basis across England and Wales. The organisation also said the line can direct survivors to longer-term support, whether or not they have disclosed the abuse to anyone else. The Ministry of Justice said the new funding will support further development, including British Sign Language interpretation and more tailored support for survivors with different needs. That matters in practical terms because accessibility has a direct effect on who can use national services, how quickly support can be reached and whether gaps remain for Deaf survivors or people who need adapted communication.
The announcement was also used to restate the government’s sentencing position on serious sexual offending. The Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor have said rape, certain child sexual offences and other grooming offences will be excluded from forthcoming changes to prison sentences. According to the government, those offences will join exclusions already applied to around 18,000 offenders, including people serving life sentences and those a court has found to be the most dangerous. The effect is to separate victim support expansion from any suggestion that sentence policy is being eased for high-harm sexual offences.
Alongside the £8.7 million grant, ministers pointed to a wider Ministry of Justice commitment of more than £550 million over three years for services supporting victims and witnesses through the justice process. The department said that funding will cover practical and emotional support, including counselling and advice linked to attending court. Read together, the measures show a two-track approach: immediate access to specialist sexual violence support, and broader spending on services that help people stay engaged once a case enters the criminal justice system. For practitioners, that gives a clearer picture of how helpline provision fits with court-based and post-report support.
For survivors, the immediate outcome is service continuity from October 2026, with a national line remaining available day and night throughout the year. According to the published service information, contact will continue to be available by telephone on 0808 500 2222 and through webchat for anyone aged 16 and over in England and Wales affected by sexual violence. For public bodies and referral partners, the announcement removes short-term uncertainty around one of the main national entry points into specialist support. It also gives a firmer basis for planning referrals, communications and partnership working over the next three years.