Support for fully funded services for Women and Girls fleeing violence and domestic abuse
Write to your MP by clicking this link
Over one in four women are estimated to be victims of sexual assault or attempted assault in their lifetime, and one in 12 women are victims of VAWG each year, although the actual number is likely to be much higher. Data also shows recorded VAWG-related crime has increased by 37% in the last 5 years.
More women live in oppressed households in the North West making our local area more dangerous for women and girls than anywhere else in the UK.
For many survivors, community-based services, especially those led ‘by and for’, are their only haven when fleeing abuse. Accessing specialist services makes a significant difference in the lives of those harmed by violence against women and girls and institutional abuse. However, chronic underfunding limits the opportunity for the most vulnerable to be supported whilst creating unfair pressure on these life-saving services.
With better funded services, more survivors are likely to end the cycle of abuse and get the longer-term support they deserve.
From a healthcare standpoint, investing more in domestic abuse community-based services not only brings societal benefits but also has a significant impact on the healthcare system. When patients are identified and referred to the right support services quickly, their chances of developing serious illnesses or constantly visiting the doctor decrease considerably. So, it’s essential to support and expand domestic abuse community-based services to tackle gender-based violence locally and effectively. The “by and for” organisations also play a crucial role here. Understanding the challenges faced by each minority group can make a real difference in providing the most appropriate support to domestic abuse victims and survivors. It’s time for the government to recognise that violence against women and girls affects our society as a whole. Everyone suffers the consequences.
At the moment, the system we’ve got is like having an NHS that is just Accident and Emergency. We are never going to solve the systemic issues around domestic abuse unless we have adequate and sustainable funding for community-based services to ensure that adult and child victims of domestic abuse can get safe and recover, and perpetrators of domestic abuse are challenged to change their behaviour. Providing access to community-based services, with a focus on supporting victims to stay safely in their own home, is the right thing to do, practically and ethically. The Government should support the right of someone who has experienced abuse to stay where they belong, in their own surroundings, close to family and friends, GPs, children’s schools, and work.
However, for so many services up and down the country, current financial pressures mean that it’s becoming harder for frontline service providers to meet the rising demand for support.
We need a commitment from the government that they will allocate sustainable, ring-fenced funding to community-based services so that every survivor can access specialist support when they need it.
Please click the link to write to your MP to raise this issue and ensure there is adequate funding for community based support services for women and girls fleeing violence and domestic abuse.