Sexual assault victims are waiting up to 14 months for counselling as specialist support services struggle to cope with "unprecedented demand", MPs have warned.A report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Sexual Violence said specific support services for victims could cease to exist completely due to lack of funding…

An "alarming" proportion of British adults remain unclear about what constitutes rape, despite the rise of the #MeToo movement, a campaign group has said.The End Violence Against Women (EVAW) coalition said results from a YouGov survey of nearly 4,000 people highlighted why access to justice is "beyond the reach of…

Police have released CCTV footage and a detailed map of the route a suspected attacker took after he "overpowered" and "violently raped" a young woman in the basement of a commercial property in Whitechapel.The 22-year-old woman was on her way home after an evening out with friends on November 9.She…

The Scottish Government has announced £8.5 million in funding to improve forensic medical examinations and other health services for victims of rape and sexual assault.This financial year, £2.5 million will go towards recruiting staff, providing training and building facilities.The remaining £6 million will be split equally between 2019-20 and 2020-21.It…

A council facing severe criticism for inviting a serial rapist to take part in legal proceedings about the future of a child he fathered with one of his victims says it is seeking urgent clarity from the government.Rotherham Council responded after campaigner and survivor of the town's child exploitation scandal…

The conviction of a man who used social media to name the woman at the centre of the Ulster rugby rape trial should act as a deterrent for future cases, police have said.Sean McFarland from Belfast pleaded guilty on Wednesday to breaching the lifetime ban on naming a complainant in…

A jailed sex offender was given the chance to play a part in the future of the child of a woman he raped, it has been reported.The man, who was reportedly part of a grooming gang, was contacted in jail by a council who gave him a chance to seek…

An action plan to tackle violence against women in Scotland is to be expanded.The Equally Safe strategy launched last year included measures to teach school children the importance of consent and healthy relationships.Now as part of a United Nations campaign of 16 days of activism around violence against women, the…

The public should be excluded from serious sex trials as part of a radical overhaul in Northern Ireland, a retired senior judge proposed.Sir John Gillen is leading an independent review following the acquittal of two Irish rugby internationals of rape charges in Belfast earlier this year.Sir John (pictured) published a…

Black cab rapist John Worboys will remain behind bars after the Parole Board reversed an earlier decision that he should be released.The board sparked controversy in January by ruling that Worboys was safe to be freed after around a decade behind bars.He had been jailed indefinitely in 2009 with a…

A gang of six men have been given jail sentences of up to 23 years after sexually exploiting vulnerable teenage girls in Rotherham.A judge told the defendants they "perpetrated, facilitated and encouraged" the abuse on five victims who were "vulnerable in the extreme".The complainants explained in statements how the men…

Thirty people will go trial charged with offences relating to the alleged sexual exploitation of children in Huddersfield, a judge has ruled.Twenty five of the defendants appeared at Leeds Crown Court (pictured) on Friday.They are charged with a total of 78 offences, including rape, trafficking and sexual assaults involving a…