In February 2022, we were commissioned by Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre and Women’s Aid East and Midlothian to undertake research to understand how many young women and non-binary people in East Lothian have experienced abuse or harm in their own relationships, and how many have experienced sexual assault.

It looked at where they go for support currently, if there are barriers to getting support, and what kind of support is needed.

We carried out this research alongside a group of eight young women aged between 16 – 25 from East Lothian who designed the project, the Young Women’s Research Collective. The research included a survey that ran from May – September 2022.