Sexual Assault Referral Centres

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 1:53 pm on 20 October 2021.

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Photo of Mabon ap Gwynfor Mabon ap Gwynfor Plaid Cymru 1:53, 20 October 2021

(Translated)

Thank you very much, and I'm particularly grateful that you answered through the medium of Welsh. These sexual assault referral centres provide a very important service to vulnerable people who clearly have gone through appalling experiences. Now, when one looks at sexual assault statistics, there isn't much difference between the number of sexual assaults for every 1,000 of the population in our rural communities as compared to urban communities. However, the level of provision available in our rural areas is appalling, particularly in north Wales. There is only one sexual health referral centre in the whole of north Wales, and that's in Colwyn Bay. It's a four-hour journey on public transport for somebody from Tudweiliog, for example, or from Harlech to Colwyn Bay. Minister, don't you agree that it's time that we saw investment in a sexual assault referral centre, a second in north Wales, in a place that is more convenient to the residents of Gwynedd and Anglesey?