TRAUMATISED rape victims in Dorset will receive more specialist help when one of just four new support centres in the country opens in Bournemouth.

The town has been identified as one of the areas most in need of such a facility and will benefit from a share of £600,000 announced by Home Secretary Theresa May to tackle violence against women and girls.

Dorset has a higher rate of sexual offences than similar police force areas, with three quarters of rapes reported to Dorset Police taking place in Bournemouth.

There are 0.35 sexual offences per 1,000 population compared with 0.29.

The centre will be run by Dorset Rape Crisis Line and is in addition to a new £271,000 Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) due to open at Dorset Police divisional headquarters in Madeira Road this summer.

The cash announced for the support centre will allow Dorset Rape Crisis to expand face-to-face counselling, emotional support and counselling for traumatised victims.

Plans are already well advanced for the SARC and the £271,000 cost will be met mainly by grants from the Home Office and the NHS.

The location for the SARC was chosen due to its proximity to Bournemouth’s night-time economy, large numbers of students and areas used by sex workers.

It will provide two medical examination suites and four video interview suites and staff will include a manager, crisis workers, forensic medical examiners and sexual violence co-ordinators.

Announcing plans for centres in Bournemouth, Exeter, Hereford and Trafford, Home Secretary Theresa May said: “Violence against women and girls remains one of the most significant gender inequalities in the modern world. I want to see an end to all forms of such violence.”

Jess Weir of Dorset Rape Crisis Line said: “There is a big need to be met here – it is a common misconception that Dorset, and Bournemouth in particular, are just sleepy retirement destinations.

“In reality we have a large number of young students at the university and foreign language students. Coming to terms with the effects of being a survivor of rape or sexual violence can take a long time.

“This funding will allow us to increase our support.”

Latest figures reveal there were 448 serious sexual offences in Dorset between April and December last year with 120 domestic sexual offences.