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Let's Talk Stalking

As you may be aware, there are many TV and film story lines at the moment which involve sexual violence. We are aware of how triggering this may be for survivors and wanted to pull some information together about one of the most talked about topics at the moment, stalking.

What is stalking?

According to Scottish Law, any act that occurs as part of a course of conduct (two or more instances) that cause fear and alarm for the victim can be considered an incident of stalking.

Stalking is unwanted, focussed behaviours carried out by one person, or persons, against another, causing fear and alarm. A wide range of behaviours may qualify as stalking including (but not limited to):

• Telephone calls.
• Sending unwanted messages and gifts.
• Harassment and monitoring on social media.
• Following and loitering.
• Verbal abuse.

This means that non-criminal acts, like a text message that says ‘your hair looks nice today’ can become criminal when they happen twice or more and cause the victim to feel afraid. A text message like this could easily make someone feel afraid, because it is intended to let them know that they are being watched.

This handy acronym can help to determine whether a behaviour is stalking:

• Fixated - in the stalker's world, everything revolves around the victim. 
• Obsessive - never leaving the victim alone and always thinking about them.
• Unwanted - the victim constantly receiving attention that they do not want.
• Repeated - the stalker is always contacting the victim despite being told to stop. 

The impact of stalking

Stalking has a devastating impact on victims which can be the main goal of a stalker. Often offenders aren't interested in the feelings of the person being targeted and are only focused on their own motivations.

TV and social media can trivialise the seriousness of stalking and its physical, psychological and financial impact and as a result this can leave victims isolated and struggling to have their experience understood and invalidated. 

Statistics on Stalking*

• Those aged under 25 are more likely to experience stalking.
• Around 20% of victims of stalking are men.
• Women are more likely to be victims of stalking than men.
• 11% of adults in Scotland have experienced stalking behaviours.
• A quarter of stalking victims experience suicidal thoughts.

*source - Non-profit organisation | Action Against Stalking | Scotland

How we can help

Here at FRASAC we support anyone of any gender aged 12+ who has been affected by sexual violence at any time in their lives. This could mean that you may have experienced something personally or you may have supported a friend or loved one through their own experience. This may have been recently or may have been years ago - we can still support you. You can contact us on 01592 642336 during office hours to make a referral. Please note, you do not need to be referred via a professional to access our services. Alternatively, you can email us at info@frasac.org.uk.

Resources

Please check our resources page here which we have some resources, websites and helplines which may be useful.

To keep up to date with our services and any news on our organisation please follow us on our social media channels:

Facebook: Facebook

Twitter (X): FRASAC (@FRASACKirkcaldy) / X (twitter.com)

Volunteering Opportunities!

Volunteering Opportunities!

We are delighted to be offering the following volunteering opportunities:

• Trauma Practitioner*
• Volunteer Counsellor
• Trainee Counsellor (Student Counsellor in placement)

*You do not need a counselling dipolma or counselling experience to volunteer with us.

To apply please click here and download the application form (on the right of this page under ‘Related Files’). Please email your completed application form to info@frasac.org.uk. The deadline for applications is Sunday 14^th April 2024.

Successful applicants will be expected to attend 8 training sessions which are expected to commence on Saturday 4th May. These sessions will be held at one of our offices in Kirkcaldy and will run from 10am until 4pm.

Thereafter each volunteer is expected to commit to a minimum of 3 hours per week for a period of 12 months.

We offer in return:

• Full training
• Peer support
• Line Supervision
• Internal and external training

Please see below a snapshot from an interview with Sarah Jane our Young Persons and Prevention Practitioner and past volunteer.

From Volunteering to Member of Staff

If you would like to discuss a volunteering opportunity, please call us on 01592 642336 and ask for Adrianna our Volunteer Co-Ordinator.

International Women's Day 2024

What is International Women's Day?

International Women's Day (IWD) falls annually on the 8th March and is a global day for celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.

The day also marks a call to action to campaign for gender equality. IWD is one of the most important days of the year to:

·         celebrate women's achievements

·         educate and raise awareness about women's equality

·         call for positive change advancing women

·         lobby for accelerated gender parity

·         fundraise for women-focused charities

Everyone everywhere can play a part in helping forge gender equality. From a wide range of IWD campaigns, events, rallies, lobbying, and performances - to festivals, parties, fun runs, and celebrations - all IWD activity is valid. That's what makes IWD so inclusive.

The campaign theme for International Women's Day 2024 is Inspire Inclusion. When we inspire others to understand and value women's inclusion, we forge a better world and when women themselves are inspired to be included, there's a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment. Collectively, let's forge a more inclusive world for all women and girls.

Here at FRASAC we are marking International Women's Day by holding a Celebrating Success event with our staff team to share and celebrate our work place successes. Our colleagues have been encouraged to contribute to the event by sharing a client's journey, feedback received from a client or professional and any other work achievements to be celebrated.

At FRASAC, we celebrate women every day and we will remain committed to working towards gender equality.

#InspireInclusion

FRASAC Investing in Volunteering Award

Investing in Volunteers Award

FRASAC began the Investing in Volunteers Award process in November 2022. We started our self-assessment and implementing changes to benefit the volunteers currently supporting our centre right away.

After a very exciting year, organising Volunteers Week, countless peer support sessions, and a few social events for volunteers we were ready for assessment in August 2023. An assessor from Volunteer Scotland started the assessment in September 2023, and after a couple of months of interviewing staff and volunteers, reviewed documents, and supporting FRASAC throughout the process, we were awarded the Investing in Volunteers certification in November 2023!

Volunteer Scotland interviews were able to gather lovely, anonymised feedback from our volunteers:

• ‘I feel that I am my best here’.
• ‘I need to feel welcome and safe, particularly in this line of work, and (here) I do’.
• ‘It’s the smallest organisation I’ve volunteered for, but it's the most appreciated I've felt. Volunteers are very much included, we're all one team’.

This year was definitely a year of growing and learning, as well as a year to recognise everything we were getting right, being proud of the work we do to support our volunteers, and to recognise their hard work and value they bring to FRASAC every day.

We are thankful to the volunteers and members of staff who contributed and participated in an interview with the assessor and shared their experiences volunteering at FRASAC.

Huge thanks to Raith Rovers Down South who funded the award, we are very grateful for their support. 

For more information on volunteering with FRASAC, click here to go to our support us page.