Charities that help abuse and rape survivors have praised the Scottish Government for giving them lengthier spells of funding.

From July 2017, funding from the devolved administration will be handed to charities on a three-year basis instead of every 12 months.

Equalities secretary Angela Constance said the change will "provide greater clarity and reassurance" to the charities.

Constance said: "We are committed to tackling all forms of violence against women and girls, and to supporting the organisations that provide this vital support.

"I'm delighted to announce we will be moving to a three-year funding programme, in particular for projects supporting women and girls affected by violence."

The move was welcomed by both Rape Crisis Scotland and Scottish Women's Aid.

Rape Crisis Scotland national coordinator Sandy Brindley said: "Equality organisations throughout Scotland play a vital role in protecting and promoting the human rights of different groups of people within Scottish society.

"Security of funding is crucial for organisations such as rape crisis centres.

"We are delighted to hear that a three-year funding package is going to be made available. This will give organisations such as ours some security moving forward.

"Crucially, it means that we can dedicate more resources to our work supporting survivors of sexual violence, rather than filling out yearly application forms."

The Scottish Government will hand £11.8m to services helping women and children who have experienced domestic abuse.

Marsha Scott, chairwoman of Scottish Women's Aid, said: "It is hard to overstate how important a more stable and efficient funding environment is to our Women's Aid groups, our women's sector partners who do such important work to address the causes of domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls, and to ourselves.

"Three-year contracts allow us all to spend more time on service provision and investment in early intervention.

"Most important, perhaps, the government's announcement sends the signal to other funders and to women and children experiencing domestic abuse that Women's Aid services are stable and sustainable, and Scotland's eyes are on the prize of ending domestic abuse."