Four years after the landmark Domestic Abuse Act was passed into law, serious concerns remain over the lack of progress in key areas, according to Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid.
The 2021 legislation, which sought to transform the national response to domestic abuse, introduced wide-ranging reforms spanning housing, health, and the family courts. While Nazeer acknowledges the positive changes that the Act has ushered in, she warns that many survivors – especially women and children – are still being failed by a system starved of the resources it needs to deliver justice and support. She said:
“While there has been a lot of positive change over the last four years, it is important that we recognise some of the limitations which continue to prevail, hindering survivors’ access to the support they so desperately need to heal from abuse.”
Central to the charity’s concerns is a staggering £321 million funding gap threatening the future of vital domestic abuse services. According to Women’s Aid’s latest Annual Audit, 15% of domestic abuse organisations have been forced to close or reduce services due to financial constraints. This comes at a time when an estimated 1.6 million women in the UK experienced domestic abuse in the past year alone.
Children, who have been legally recognised as victims in their own right under the Act, face even more acute challenges. Nearly a third (31.4%) of organisations offering specialist child support reported operating without dedicated funding. With 1.8 million children having lived through domestic abuse in the last year, Nazeer says the lack of proper investment risks undermining the government’s ambition to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade. She continued:
“Domestic abuse has a profound impact on the mental wellbeing and physical safety of children. Without adequate support, these effects can last a lifetime. It is essential that children’s experiences of support reflect the legal recognition they now have as survivors.”
In response, Women’s Aid is calling for a £516 million annual funding commitment for specialist domestic abuse services in England, including a ring-fenced fund for ‘by and for’ services tailored to marginalised communities. As part of this, they are urging the government to establish a £46 million Children and Young People Support Fund, to ensure every specialist domestic abuse service includes a dedicated Child Support Worker.
Nazeer also raised concerns about the lack of action on systemic issues identified by the Ministry of Justice’s Harm Panel Review, which highlighted dangerous failings within the family court system. The Domestic Abuse Act was seen as a key opportunity to implement the Review’s recommendations. However, many of these have yet to be acted upon – particularly the presumption of parental contact, which campaigners argue can enable abusers to continue harming victims through legal access to children. She said:
“It is unacceptable that years on, so many of the identified problems have been left unaddressed. These systemic issues are continuing to put lives at risk.”
Women’s Aid is urging the government to act with urgency, stressing that without proper investment and full implementation of the Harm Panel’s findings, its target to halve violence against women and girls will remain out of reach.
