The government’s ambition to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) lacks momentum amid calls for reassurance it remains a priority from Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales Dame Nicole Jacobs.
The commissioner was responding to the government’s response to ‘Victims in their own right? Babies, children and young people’s experience of domestic abuse’, a report published in April of this year outlining the key issues facing those trying to tackle VAWG. Jacobs has called on the government to publish the ‘heavily delayed VAWG strategy and provide the necessary funding needed to ensure it succeeds.’
- 56% of services surveyed had experienced cuts to their funding over the past five years
- 29% were making difficult decisions to stop providing a specialist support service to children
- 27% of services are having to turn children away from vital support amid severe funding shortages
highlighting the immense financial pressure specialist services are under and how children are paying the price said the Commissioner.
In its response the government says it intends to act, or points to work already in motion, on just 10 of the critical changes required to overhaul the current response for children subject to abuse outlined by the report. While some of the remaining 56 recommendations have been accepted partially, the majority have been flagged by the government as either needing to ‘explore’ or ‘consult’ on whether this work is required or been dismissed out right.
There has been some progress; two of the recommendations have been acted on, including updating the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSE) guidance, so that all children can learn about abusive behaviour in schools and increased funding for behaviour change perpetrator programmes. However a lack of momentum means:
“Tens of thousands of child victims are currently not getting the level of help and support they need to recover from abuse, and I remain largely unclear on what the government intends to do about it.
“For children experiencing domestic abuse every day can be an anxious battle. Many are growing up in homes where the rules are always changing, where they struggle to concentrate at school and often do not know what devastating consequences the next day will bring. These children are our future – they need and deserve an ambitious plan from government on how it is going to ensure they are protected, but also how it intends to prevent other children from growing up in homes like theirs. But this has yet to materialise.
“Halving violence against women and girls within a decade is an ambitious target and one I applaud. But with the VAWG strategy still delayed and no major funding announced for specialist domestic abuse services, I fail to see where the momentum within government is coming from to ensure this commitment succeeds.
“It’s vital that the government clearly sets out how it intends to tackle and prevent domestic abuse as a matter of urgency. It should not need to be said that adult and child victims cannot wait any longer.”
Domestic abuse charity Refuge said it welcomed plans to halve VAWG within the next decade and reiterated the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s call for an action plan to ‘make that pledge a reality.’
Gemma Sherrington, CEO of Refuge, said:
“The Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s warning could not be clearer. Delays to the VAWG strategy, compounded by the chronic underfunding of vital frontline services, are undermining the Government’s own goal. At a time when Refuge’s services have never been more needed, we strongly echo Dame Nicole Jacobs’ warning: progress on tackling VAWG is losing momentum, and survivors cannot wait any longer.
“Around 1 in 4 women in England and Wales will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, and every 5 days, a woman is killed by a current or former partner. With every day the VAWG strategy is delayed, more lives are put at risk.
“As Dame Nicole highlighted, the impact of domestic abuse on children cannot be underestimated. Nearly half of the residents in our refuges are children, yet there remains a profound funding gap for children’s services, which must be addressed in the VAWG strategy.
“The Government must act with urgency if it is to meet its pledge to halve VAWG within the next decade. At the heart of this plan must be funding for specialist organisations, to ensure that all survivors can access lifesaving support.”
