Rape and Sexual Abuse

We support people of all genders over the age of 5 in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes who have been affected by rape and sexual abuse.

What do we mean by "rape and sexual abuse"?

By this, we mean any sexual activity or act that happened without consent. This includes:

Rape
Sexual assault
Childhood sexual abuse
Assault by penetration
Indecent exposure
Sexual harassment
Stealthing
Spiking
Female genital mutilation
Online or technology-facilitated abuse (including indecent images and so-called “revenge porn”)
Sexual exploitation
Female genital mutilation (FGM)
Trafficking
Stalking and voyeurism
Ritual abuse

This is not an exhaustive list.

Essentially, if someone did something to you that you didn’t consent to (regardless of if they made physical contact or not), this is illegal and this is sexual abuse.

You are not alone. 70% of the people we supported last year experienced some form of sexual abuse.

How do I know if there was consent or not?

Legally, in England and Wales, the onus is on the individual seeking consent to ensure they have a reasonable belief of consent before proceeding with a sexual act.

This means that if you did not explicitly agree to a sexual act, you did not consent.

The absence of a “no” does not make a “yes”.

Does there have to be physical contact for it to be sexual abuse?

Perpetrators are increasingly using technology and in almost all cases we see, there is some form of online abuse even when there is also physical (“offline”) abuse.

There are many forms of sexual abuse where the victim is not physically touched by the perpetrator. This can include, but is not limited to, indecent exposure, sexual harassment, online abuse (including indecent images, so-called “revenge porn” and AI-generated deepfakes) and stalking and voyeurism.

Online sexual abuse can feel inescapable, and survivors may not know where to turn. We want you to know that all the support available at SAASS is available to you regardless of whether you were physically touched or not.

What support is available?

We offer specialist support for survivors of all genders over the age of 5 across Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, regardless of when this happened in your life or whether you have reported it or not.

This includes:

Up to 24 sessions of 1:1 counselling
Independent Sexual Violence Advocacy
Group therapy
Peer support group
Stabilisation Intervention Programme (psychoeducation)
Emotional telephone support
Advocacy (speaking up for you)

Check out Our Services for more information about these services

For Children and Young People and their families, you can see our specialist support offers here.

During your Information, Advice and Guidance session you will receive more information about our services, and we encourage you to let us know if there is anything we can do to make you feel more comfortable accessing our support.

You do not need to have reported anything to the police to speak with us and, within safeguarding limits, everything you tell us will be confidential. You won’t be asked to talk to us about anything you don’t feel ready to share.

The initial contact will always be from a female member of staff, and we have specialist workers of all genders. You can request support from a person of any sex or gender that feels most comfortable to you. You can see further information about how we support survivors of all identities and tailor our support to meet your access needs here: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

Make a referral using by clicking the button below:

Myths about rape, sexual abuse and consent

In the UK, we grow up being taught various myths around gender, our bodies, relationships and consent which can lead to survivors blaming themselves or feeling shame after experiencing rape and sexual abuse.

We’re here to tell you that what happened to you was not your fault. 100% of the blame and responsibility for sexual abuse sits with the perpetrator. Whilst it’s a natural, human instinct to feel shame, this is not your shame to carry.

Here are some facts:

Whilst being under the influence of alcohol and drugs may make you more vulnerable to crime, this is not an excuse for someone to rape or sexually abuse you.
Most survivors will be unable to scream, fight or run away during sexual abuse. It’s far more likely that you will freeze and be unable to move or speak. This is due to a trauma response in the brain that we aren’t in control of.
Not saying “no” is not the same as giving consent. If it’s not a “hell yes!”, it’s a “no”.
You always need consent every single time, regardless of whether it’s the first time you’ve been together or if you are in a long-term relationship.
You can withdraw your consent at any time. Even if you have flirted, gone on a date or even engaged in some consensual sexual activity that day or in the past, you can change your mind at any time. If the person disregards your wishes to stop and continues, that is sexual abuse.
Even if someone offers sexual acts for payment, gifts or other services, including sex work, the individual still must consent. Any sexual activity outside of what they agreed and consented to is sexual abuse.
There is no scientific basis to suggest that once a person is aroused, they must have sex. Everyone, men and women, can control themselves and stop when the other person wants stop.
In most reported cases of sexual abuse (86%*), the victim and perpetrator know each other, and it is most likely that the perpetrator is a partner, ex-partner or a family member.
Whilst sexual abuse is more prevalent for women and girls (1 in 4 women* and 1 in 5 girls under 18**), 1 in 18 men* and 1 in 10 boys under 18** will also experience rape and sexual abuse. Regardless of the gender of the victim, the perpetrator is almost always an adult male*.
Most survivors don’t report their experiences to the police, due to a lack of faith in the criminal justice system, fears of compromising their safety, health and wellbeing as well as worries about not being believed or listened to. We have specialist support for anyone thinking about or who has reported, but we won’t ever tell you to report if you don’t want to and your decision does not change what services you can access with us.
Very few (1-3%*) of cases reported to the police are determined to be false allegations, and this is a similar level to other crime types such as burglary and theft. Survivors are much more likely to never tell the police what happened than report a false account and men are far more likely to be raped themselves than be falsely accused.

*Statistics taken from Rape Crisis England and Wales 2026

**Statistics taken from CSA Centre 2026

How to get support

We recognise the strength it takes to reach out for help. That’s why we have designed our services to go at your pace, tell us only the information you want to and to give you opportunities at every stage to tell us what we can do to best support you.

Even if you’re unsure whether what happened to you was rape or sexual abuse or not, we warmly welcome contact from you. Never worry about if you are bothering us or stress about whether what happened to you was “serious” enough to warrant accessing our support. It doesn’t matter if it happened earlier today, or many years ago. It doesn’t matter whether there was physical abuse or not. If something happened that you feel wasn’t right, we want to hear from you.

Survivors of rape and sexual abuse told us:

“I can’t thank the SAASS service enough, I was a broken, emotional, suicidal wreck when I first came to see my therapist and thanks to her and this service, I have started to feel more hopeful about the future and work through my emotions, behaviour and feelings about my horrific assault to feel all round a little more like myself again. Thank you for this service, it saved my life.”

“SAASS has gone far above and beyond anything I ever expected. They really helped me when I was in crisis as I worked through some very difficult things. Having had trauma with mental health professionals, this experience has gone a long way towards changing that perspective.”

“The true heroes to my successful prosecution remain with the ISVA support and pre-trial therapy I received at SAASS, still having continued support and much needed whilst I stabilise myself and get stronger by the day. I am feeling freer from all the shame I have carried throughout the most part of my life. Thank you all much for being there when I needed you.”

You can make a referral or contact us using the links below:

For more information about this or other services,
please get in touch.

Email:

General enquiries: admin@saassbmk.org.uk
For support: support@saassbmk.org.uk
Buckinghamshire AND Milton Keynes: 01908 201971