Jess Asato, new Lowestoft MP, pleads for Government meeting following closure of Suffolk Rape Crisis

A new Suffolk MP has pleaded for a Government meeting following the closure of a local rape support charity.

Jess Asato, the newly-elected Labour MP for the Lowestoft constituency, wrote to the Government asking for a meeting to discuss violence against women and girls.

The letter was sent yesterday and is addressed to Jess Phillips and Alex Davies-Jones, Parliamentary under-secretaries of state in the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice respectively.

In the letter, Ms Asato promises to work with the Government to ‘end some of the most pressing injustices of our time’ in violence against women and girls (VAWG).

The letter came two months after Suffolk Rape Crisis, a charity supporting women and girls affected by sexual violence, announced its closure, due at the end of this month.

In a statement released by the charity, it said the closure was due to insecure funding and services no longer being sustainable.

Ms Asato said: “The situation facing charities is dire and many local services — including Suffolk Rape Crisis — have been forced to shut their doors due to a lack of funding.

“It is vital, therefore, that if we are to support vulnerable women and girls that the Government reviews the funding models for these life-saving services.”

A further plea was made for services supporting children who, she said, were hidden from view as victims of domestic and sexual abuse despite the trauma carrying into adulthood without the right support.