Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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Recommendations:
• Review the Action Plan to include policy and guidance on older women, outlining
the roles and responsibilities of service organisations
• Make resources available for service providers to meet the needs of older women
including staff, accommodation and outreach services
Funding for specialist VAWG services
The economic cost of VAWG in the UK is estimated to be £37.6bn annually 83 and funding
for specialist support and preventive services should be seen as an investment or an offset
that would reduce the overall economic costs of this violence. The recently adopted VAWG
strategies for England and Wales are not matched by adequate funding strategies that would
ensure that every woman who is at risk of or experiencing violence receives proper advice and
support. 84 Commitments by the Government to ensure the sustainability of the VAWG sector
are not reflected in reality. VAWG services are under threat and it has been reported that the
sector has lost 31% of funding and that women are turned away from refuges every day, 85 for
example on an average day in 2011 230 women were turned away by Women’s Aid - around
9% of those seeking refuge - because of a lack of space. 86 100% of BME VAWG organisations
surveyed in 2011 had also experienced funding cuts within the last three years and were having
to consider ways of meeting the shortfall in funding. 87
Budget cuts and commissioning and procurement practices are squeezing out preventative
or specialist service providers due to the economies of scale that larger, generic organisations
can provide. However, this does not necessarily translate into better outcomes for service
users. 88 Central government has indicated that it will consider how to address this problem 89
but research demonstrates a dramatic and uneven reduction in local services to prevent and
protect against VAWG and it is feared that this will lead to increases in such violence. 90 (See
Article 3 and Appendix: 5 for further information)
There is currently a ‘postcode lottery’ of service provision for women experiencing VAWG in
Wales – particularly for women in rural Wales. While there have been some developments since
2009, the general under-provision of services, and in particular services for women who have
experienced any form of VAWG that is not domestic abuse, remains similar. 91 There are also
issues in terms of service provision in Scotland and Northern Ireland. (See Annex 1)
83. Government Equalities Office (2010) The Equality Strategy – Building a Fairer Britain. GEO: London http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/
publications/equalities/equality-strategy-publications/equality-strategy/equality-strategy?view=Binary
84. Rights of Women (2010) Measuring up? UK compliance with international commitments on violence against women in England and Wales.
ROW: London http://www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/pdfs/Measuring_up_A_report_by_Rights_of_Women.pdf
85. Baird, V. QC (2012) Everywoman Safe Everywhere: Labour’s commission on women’s safety – First interim report http://www.labour.org.uk/
uploads/455bf616-f048-b184-e903-c9629a67745a.pdf
86. Towers, J. and Walby, S. (2012) Measuring the impact of cuts in public expenditure on the provision of services to prevent violence against
women and girls. Trust for London: London http://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/FullVAWGReport.pdf
87. FORWARD and Imkaan (2011) The Road to Sustainability: A review of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee organisations working with
women on health and gender based violence in England. A study commissioned by the Women’s Health and Equality Consortium. WHEC:
London http://www.whec.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/07/TheRoadtoSustainabilityExecSummary2011.pdf
88. New economics foundation (2007) Unintended Consequences: How the efficiency agenda erodes local public services and a new public
benefit model to restore them. nef: London. http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/unintended-consequences
89. Ministry of Justice (2012) Getting It Right for Victims and Witnesses: Government Response https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digitalcommunications/victims-witnesses
90. Towers, J. and Walby, S. (2012) Measuring the impact of cuts in public expenditure on the provision of services to prevent violence against
women and girls. Trust for London: London http://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/FullVAWGReport.pdf
91. Women’s Equality Network Wales (2012) Submission to the Committee on the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination against Women, WEN Wales response. WEN Wales: Burry Port http://wenwales.org/wp-content/uploads/Submission-tothe-Committee-on-CEDAW-formatted-version-final.pdf
182 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013