Victims and Survivors
The RLSS is a team of safeguarding professionals, which offers safeguarding services for the Religious of the Catholic Church. Think of it like a small company who have an IT company on call whenever they need IT help – this is how RLSS works for Religious Life Groups.
Whenever an RLG needs help with safeguarding, whether that be from more day to day support like training or policy development or help with more serious matters like someone disclosing abuse or raising a safeguarding concern. That is when the RLSS step in to ensure everything is handled to the highest possible standard.
Contacting Us
We know that as a Survivor of abuse, getting in touch with a service like RLSS can feel overwhelming, disempowering and destabilising. That is why we will do everything possible to enable you to feel empowered. We can work with an advocate if you aren’t ready to speak with us and you can also pick who you would like to speak too from the safeguarding team. We also encourage you to get in touch via email first if this would make things easier. Picking up the phone to us might be scary but we also recognise the courage it takes and have nothing but respect for those who come forward to help us in our mission to make the Church a safer place for everyone.
Support
The team will be supportive and ensure that you have everything you need. Occasionally you may need some support that the RLSS team is unable to give you. If this is the case we will not only sign post you but we will help you gain access to these resources wherever possible. The main support we are asked for is counselling and that is something we have facilitated for many victims / survivors.
Counselling
Often victims and survivors can gain access to counselling quickly, if this is something you would like or are considering, have a chat with the team to see what options are open to you.
How we work with Suvivors
The RLSS is built on empathy, with Survivors at the heart of all we do. We work with you as an individual to find out how you would like to be supported and what is the ultimate goal for you. To gain an insight into how we work, why not take a look at the Survivor Interview in May 2023.
Our commitment to Victims
• We will always work for and with each individual victim and survivor.
• We will value and respect each victim and survivor as an individual as they share their unique lived experiences.
• We will actively listen and learn from each individual victim and survivor’s unique lived experience.
• We will always engage with each individual victim and survivor with empathy, warmth and trust.
• We will always engage with each individual victim and survivor with transparency and honesty.
Confidentiality
We strongly acknowledge that confidentiality is central to our work and we adhere to this commitment. However, we want you to be aware that there may be occasions where we cannot maintain confidentiality. We will always let you know when we must break the confidential agreement, who we will tell and when.
Testimonials
“Thank you so much! That’s really reassuring to hear because it had gotten to the point where I thought nothing could be done about it and that there was no one who cared or wanted to help.”
“Thank you for your assistance. The compassion and support offered from yourself at the RLSS has helped me immensely get through this difficult chapter. Thanks to All of you again.”