Domestic slavery, child sexual exploitation and death at the hands of a male partner- these may sound like grisly details from a novel; they are, however, the reality for thousands of women and girls in this country today.
The cost of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in England and Wales is a staggering £40 billion a year. Despite this, the government only invests 0.1% of this figure to prevent and respond to this crisis. Of this, even less goes to Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) services, leaving women and girls from these communities even more vulnerable than their non-BME counterparts.
Massive cuts in funding, closure of refuges across the country and the loss of specialist services for women are devastating symptoms of a wider- and deeper- problem.
There is no easy solution and a coordinated and multi pronged approach is needed. Moreover, funding alone is not the answer, and the government plays a key role in responding to this crisis, and maintaining the human rights of BME women. GMSP Foundation commissioned Sisters for Change to conduct a deep-dive analysis into the impact of these policies with a view to making real, robust recommendations for change.
You may ask: why BME women? And not violence against all women? Whilst we agree that all women- and men- should be safe from violence, BME and refugee women face higher rates of domestic homicide, and are 3 times more likely to commit suicide than other women in the UK. Whilst the whole sector has faced cuts, the BME sector has been hit the hardest. For example, 1 in 3 local authorities has no women’s refuge. This means that last year, more than half of women and children fleeing domestic violence, had to be turned away.
“Unequal Regard, Unequal Protection: Public authority responses to violence against BME women in England’ was launched on Monday 6th November at the House of Lords.
We anticipate that the findings from this project will act as a game-changer for the BME women’s sector. The report is timely, given the introduction of the new Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill this year. The Bill – supported in the Queen’s speech- offers new hope to women and children who have experienced domestic abuse. According to Home Secretary Amber Rudd, “These measures will help us bring justice to women who experience these abhorrent crimes anywhere in the world and shows perpetrators there is nowhere to hide.”
GMSP Foundation is confident that the recommendations from this report, combined with the new Bill could herald a real turning point for BME women.
We strongly endorse the call for ring-fenced funding for specialist BME services as well as for services to be commissioned in keeping with the ground reality of all communities.
We believe the Government has taken a powerful first step in introducing the Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill. We look forward to supporting them- and the Voluntary and Community Sector- to bring about real change for millions of women and girls in England.
GMSP Foundation works to tackle the most urgent issues affecting women and girls in India and the UK.
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