Women’s Aid respond to plans to provide more consistent support to survivors of domestic and sexual abuse announced by the Ministry of Justice

Alexandra Williams, Public Affairs and Campaign Manager at Women’s Aid, said:

“Domestic abuse has a devastating impact on the mental wellbeing and physical safety of survivors, and it is essential that they are properly supported as they seek justice and recover from their experience. Inconsistencies in support across the country have created a postcode lottery for survivors, with some ultimately not receiving the support they need and deserve. Women’s Aid welcomes plans from the Ministry of Justice to improve the consistency of support for those who have experienced domestic and sexual abuse but more need to be done to ensure women and children are able to access the best support possible.

Community-based domestic abuse support services offer a range of vital service to survivors that enable them to recover from trauma and rebuild their lives after abuse. Given the acute funding challenges for community-based support services, as well as a lack of understanding of the support they provide, in the newly introduced Victims and Courts Bill, we are recommending that the Ministry of Justice publishes guidance on specialist advocacy support, in line with their IDVA and ISVA guidance. This must cover the holistic support and intersectional advocacy provided by specialist ‘by and for’ organisation supporting Black and minoritised, D/deaf and disabled, and LGBT+ survivors, who often experience multiple forms of disadvantage and discrimination when trying to access support.

Women’s Aid urges the government to work with specialist domestic abuse services, and their national membership bodies, to produce a statutory definition of “community-based support domestic abuse services” which captures the breadth of services available. The is needed to clarify what types of organisations should be funded, and ensure that only specialist domestic abuse organisations, with expert knowledge of violence against women and girls, are providing support.”