By Jess McCabe | 8 March 2010, 12:08

London mayor Boris Johnson will keep his promise and open three rape crisis centres in London this year!

In a press release today the mayor announced:

Islington and Westminster councils have taken the lead to deliver new Rape Crisis services in north London using £370,000 of funding from the Mayor. With the full support of four other north London councils they plan to run Rape Crisis services in each borough with the work centrally co-ordinated by an existing women’s service provider. This means that women in north London will not have to travel across boroughs but can access services locally.

A similar plan is underway in east London where Redbridge is leading work to deliver a new Rape Crisis Centre for the area with £370,000 of funding from the Mayor.

The new Rape Crisis Centre for west London, run by the Women and Girl’s Network, will start operating on April 1. With £375,000 funding from the Mayor along with resources and additional funding from Ealing Council, the centre hopes to run satellite services across West London.

Since receiving £260,000 from the Mayor last year the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (RASASC) in Croydon has doubled the capacity of its helpline and increased by 30 per cent the level of face to face counselling it can now provide to victims of rape and sexual abuse.

Well done to the activists at Boris Keep Your Promise, who have no doubt helped ensure this goes ahead.