Anonymous Reporting
It is your decision whether to report an assault to the Police. If you are undecided we can discuss your options with you. Whether you decide to involve the police or not the same services are offered to you.
One option available to you is that we can pass on anonymous reporting to the Police with your consent or even consider having forensic samples saved at The Shores in case required at a later date. The crisis worker will discuss limits around confidentiality with you as there may be times when we need to share information with another agency, such as police or children’s services. This may include if we believe a child or children are at risk of harm, if we believe you are likely to harm yourself or another person, if you post a threat to national security or if there is a significant risk to your safety.
All Calls are Confidential – Call The Shores on 0800 970 9954
Anonymous Reporting is information regarding your Rape or Sexual Assault which at your request we can share with the police without the Police knowing any of your personal details. If you decide you don’t want to report the Rape or Assault to the Police, we will ask if you want to provide anonymous information to the police.
If you do we will write an account of what happened but without any of your details and submit to the police – this helps them build up a picture about what is happening in their area but without knowing anything about you – again, this is completely up to you.
Should you later want to talk to the police we can arrange this for you – you can request an informal chat with the police and they still don’t need to know who you are. If you want to then formally report, this can be done – we will support you through this and arrange it all for you – but it is still your decision.
Anonymous reporting is a really useful way of sharing information with the police when you don’t want to be identified and you don’t want to formally report the assault as a crime.
If you report anonymously an ‘intelligence report’ is passed on to the relevant police department in your area and this can be used to put a perpetrator on the police’s radar and it helps the police build a picture of what types of attacks are happening and where. If you report anonymously it does not mean that the person you have reported will be arrested unless a formal report is received and/or the person has access to children and/or vulnerable people.
Crimestoppers is an independent charity helping to find criminals and help solve crimes.
They run an anonymous 0800 555 111 phone line that you can call if you want to pass on any information about a Rape or Sexual Assault or any other crimes.
Alternatively, people can pass on information anonymously to Crimestoppers via the website www.crimestoppers-uk.org using the Giving Information Form.
Callers don’t have to give their name or any personal information and calls cannot be traced. This means you won’t need to appear in court or give a statement to the Police.
