Gaia Pope’s family call for change after inquest highlights missed chances
More than 50 instances, family say, when public services missed opportunities to help Dorset teenager
The family of the Dorset teenager Gaia Pope have called for fundamental changes to the way the police, health trusts and other public services protect survivors of sexual violence after an inquest highlighted a string of missed chances to help her.
Pope’s family have drawn up a list of more than 50 opportunities they say police and health and social care professionals missed to support the 19-year-old, whose body was found 11 days after she vanished from the seaside town of Swanage.
In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.