To commemorate and rejoice the 16 Days of Activism in opposition to Gender-Based mostly Violence, Ellen Miller, Interim CEO of Refuge, writes an unique open letter for GLAMOUR, calling on the federal government to spend money on community-based home abuse help providers and to reform policing.
Learn her open letter right here:
It’s the 16 Days of Activism in opposition to Gender-Based mostly Violence, which presents an ideal alternative to have open discussions in regards to the motion wanted to beat violence in opposition to girls and women (VAWG). Whereas some could consider that eradicating VAWG is unimaginable, right here at Refuge we firmly consider that we will obtain a world the place girls are protected from abuse and worry, if society unites and if tangible motion is taken. We’ve seen optimistic progress over the previous few years, with the introduction of the Home Abuse Act (2021), and the newer On-line Security Act (2023), however there’s nonetheless much more change wanted.
This yr, the theme of 16 Days of Activism is ‘UNITE! Make investments to stop violence in opposition to girls and women’, which calls on governments the world over to share how they’re investing to guard.
It’s no secret that, traditionally, home abuse help has been chronically underfunded in England and Wales, with weak commitments from the Authorities to supply long-term, sustainable funding that meets demand. We’ve got seen some funding commitments lately, equivalent to these outlined within the Home Abuse Act – which launched a statutory responsibility on native authorities to fee accommodation-based providers – however there are important areas of help which aren’t getting the money injection they want.
Neighborhood-based home abuse providers, run by girls’s charities, present important help to survivors of home abuse – each girls and their youngsters – who’re unable, or don’t want, to flee their houses. They’re there to help and empower girls on each a brief and long-term foundation and could be accessed at any phases of the journey to security. Analysis carried out by Refuge earlier this yr confirmed that 95% of the survivors we help entry community-based providers, and in only one yr, the variety of new shoppers supported by Refuge’s community-based providers elevated by 10%. Regardless of the clear rising demand for these providers, they proceed to be chronically underfunded, with greater than 4 in 5 of Refuge’s frontline employees surveyed seeing their service being impacted by inadequate funding.
Because of this, with a coalition of accomplice organisations, Refuge is urging the federal government to supply sustainable funding of no less than £238 million within the upcoming Victims and Prisoners Invoice, so extra survivors could be given the important help they want. We’ve seen the undeniably optimistic impression of those providers at Refuge, with 97% of providers customers between April 2021 and March 2022 saying they felt safer after utilizing them. All survivors have the suitable to really feel protected and to make sure that we want safe funding.
16 Days of Activism is a crucial time for spreading consciousness of the challenges girls and women face, and campaigning for optimistic change. The final yr has clearly demonstrated that there are main points with policing in England, which is having a profound impression on survivors of home abuse. We’ve seen report after report a few misogynistic tradition inside police forces and deeply disturbing headlines about police-perpetrated crimes in opposition to girls and women. This has left girls’s belief within the police at an all-time low. Only one in 5 survivors that Refuge help report abuse to the police, over fears of not being believed, or fears that those that are supposed to defend them could also be perpetrators themselves.