Women’s Aid responds: Victims’ Bill

 

Farah Nazeer, chief executive at Women’s Aid said:

“We welcome the publication of the victims’ bill and are hopeful that the duty on police and crime commissioners, local authorities and health organisations to work together will help ensure these services are much more effective in meeting survivors’ needs. As we called for in our consultation response, this duty must be underpinned by sustainable, multi-year funding for community-based domestic abuse services, including ring-fenced funding for ‘by and for’ services for Black and minoritised women.

“While Independent Domestic Violence Advisors can offer a lifeline of support to survivors, any statutory definition of IDVAs must not create a ‘one-size-fits-all approach’, which would neglect the variety of specialist advocacy and wraparound support that specialist services, particularly those provided ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised communities, provide. Defining the role of an IDVA risks failing to recognise these roles, creating additional barriers to Black and minoritised survivors accessing the specialist support they need.

“We look forward to engaging with the justice select committee in its pre-legislative scrutiny of the bill to ensure it effectively supports all survivors of domestic abuse.”

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