Clients who self-refer to a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC): a preliminary exploration of client and case characteristics

ABSTRACT The Saint Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) provides an integrated forensic medical and psychological support service, including support through the criminal justice process. The aims of this preliminary exploratory study were to establish the demographic characteristics of clients who self-refer to Saint Mary's SARC (i.e. those who have not been referred by the police), and to explore the nature of alleged assault and alleged perpetrator characteristics across cases. One-hundred and twenty-eight case notes of adult clients (64 police referrals and 64 self-referrals) from a 12-month period were selected for preliminary review and analyses. Results revealed that age, gender and relationship status were similar across both groups. Significant associations emerged, with the majority of self-referred clients being in either full-time employment or full-time education, with no reported additional needs (e.g. physical disability, learning disability). Self-referred clients also reported less information about the nature of the alleged assault and the alleged perpetrator, when compared to police-referred clients. Collectively, these preliminary findings suggest that self-referred clients present with a different case profile and potentially different service needs than those referred by the police. Further research is warranted with larger sample sizes from a wider range of SARCs.