Safe refuge is no longer available for a huge number of women seeking sanctuary from domestic abuse. This is due to chronic shortages. It is an area which has been chronically underfunded for years.
The Independent states that six in ten women fleeing domestic violence seeking refuge in England over a year were denied a place.
Figures from the ONS, Office for National Statistics, shows 27,754 women were referred from April 2022 and March 2023 but only 10,824 women were accepted. 16,930 women were left with nowhere to go, they reported.
SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND RAPE
In England & Wales 798,000 women and 12,000 men, aged 15 – 59 experience rape.
Approximately 90% of those who are raped know the perpetrator prior to the offence. (Ministry of Justice, Office for National Statistics, Joint statistics bulletin on Sexual Violence, January 2013)
91 of 149 women killed in 2018 (61%) were killed by their current or former partner.
The World Health Organisation states about 30% of women worldwide have experienced physical and sexual violence from an intimate partner.
These statistics are truly shocking and yet it remains chronically underfunded.
This is now a national emergency.
HOW DO SURVIVORS ESCAPE DOMESTIC ABUSE?
Refuge bed spaces in England in 2023 are over 20% below the total recommended by the Council of Europe.
In the cost-of-living crisis it is almost impossible for survivors of domestic abuse to save the money required to make their escape. Many are unable to leave due to being unable to save the cash and then having to afford somewhere safe to stay. Abusers know this. Coercive control, a behaviour tool used by abusers often restricts access to money, clothes and food. It is almost impossible for the survivor to leave putting them at greater risk of physical and sexual violence.
Almost half, 49% of organisations offering services around domestic abuse run with no dedicated funding. The annual cost to society is estimated to be around 66 billion per year according to the latest report by Women’s Aid (Women’s Aid (2019) Funding specialist support for domestic abuse survivors. Bristol: Women’s Aid.
The Domestic Abuse Act came into force in 2021. This Act gives the Domestic Abuse Commissioner specific powers which enable her to fulfil this role. Nicole Jacobs was appointed in 2019, and her powers came into force in 2021, she was reappointed for three years in 2022.
https://domesticabusecommissioner.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/DAC-Annual-Report-2023.pdf
Whatever they are doing, it is not enough.
For this reason, the Robert Owen supports the Independents Brick by Brick Campaign.
Introducing The Independent and Refuge’s Brick By Brick campaign | News | Independent TV
The Robert Owen Society calls on Jess Phillips Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls to make this a National Emergency and for allocated funding to be given to organisations to support families who are having to make the decision to f the hands of the apparent perpetrators of domestic violence.
We also call on the Education Secretary Bridget Williamson MP to review the school curriculum. Domestic Abuse must play its part in forming part of any relationship programme within schools.
The Police must take accusations of Domestic Abuse seriously and objectively, removing the danger and instigating an investigation via social services immediately. We would urge sensitivity and objectivity for any decision to remove any child from the family, albeit on a temporary basis. A true multi-disciplinary approach must be deployed involving the apparent perpetrator and those on the end of the abuse. At present multi-disciplinary meetings take place without the parties involved, leading to presumptions and false outcomes.
Women`s Aid, other bodies alongside the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, the Department of Health MP Wes Streeting and the Justice Department must work as a cross-section group to toughen the laws. Judgement should be holistic, offering programmes for rehabilitation, anger management, education and self-defence.
The NHS must play its part in the multi-disciplinary approach employing expertise and appropriate mental health support channels.
Local councils must be given appropriately trained officers and the finance to house at short notice the survivors of domestic abuse.
A crisis can happen at any time. We must have dedicated centres to deal with those in crisis, whether it be from domestic abuse or any other crisis which is taking place at that time. They must offer staffing 24 hours per day and be attached to all organisations offering any kind of assistance. This would require cost effective management.
We in the Robert Owen Society recognise this is yet another social problem which we are reliably advised is approaching epidemic proportions. We would ask our readers to support the current Independent’s Campaign Brick by Brick.
Introducing The Independent and Refuge’s Brick By Brick campaign | News | Independent TV
Amelia Washbourne, Director of the Robert Owen Society
Chris Morgan, Company Secretary of the Robert Owen Society
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