Christina McKelvie

The Delivering Equally Safe Fund – which brings together a number of previous funding streams – will support frontline organisations, with a focus on prevention and early intervention.

It comes after the budget allocation for equality and human rights received a £5.5m boost to a record £30m.

Equalities minister Christina McKelvie said: “This £13m fund will give frontline services an extra £1m a year and shows how seriously we take erasing the terror and damage of gender-based violence from our society.

“Across greater legal protections, improving forensic medical services for victims of sexual assault and enhancing protections for those at risk of Female Genital Mutilation, we want to keep vulnerable women and girls safe from harm.

“Our record £30m investment in equalities will help us create a Scotland where everyone is protected and violence, discrimination and gender-based inequality are consigned to history.”

Caroline Burrell, centre director at Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre, said: “No survivor should ever have to wait to access lifesaving Rape Crisis support, yet too often this is the reality in Edinburgh and beyond. We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to funding Rape Crisis Centres and recognition of the importance of specialist support.

“Going forward we look forward to working closely with the Scottish Government to make sure that survivors are able to access support at the point of need. It is encouraging to see investment in both the frontline services and prevention work required to put an end to gender-based violence in Scotland, and ultimately achieve equality for women and girls.”