PROVIDING the right accommodation for those fleeing domestic violence could mean the difference between life and death.
Earlier this year, charities and campaigners welcomed the Domestic Abuse Act, a landmark piece of legislation to help the 2.4million victims of abuse in the UK every year.
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The Sun backs Women's Aid's call to provide proper refuge to domestic abuse victims Credit: Getty - Contributor
But the charity Women’s Aid says the Act must clearly specify that the ￡125million-a-year pledged for accommodation for survivors is spent on specialist refuges, and not housing associations, landlords or other services.
Today, The Sun – which has long pushed for more funding for refuges with our Give Me Shelter campaign – is backing the charity’s call.
Here, Women’s Aid patron Dame Julie Walters tells Kate Jackson why this amendment is necessary, while Jess Phillips, Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding, says the Government risks losing the gains we have made if it fails on this.
by Dame Julie Walters 5
Dame Julie Walters says the Domestic Abuse Act needs modifying Credit: PA
THE Domestic Abuse Act last month was a huge achievement after a horrendous year for survivors of domestic abuse under lockdown, where many women were left in their homes with abusers.
After four years of campaigning by Women’s Aid alongside other charities, we now have more protection for survivors than ever before.
Part of the new law is a statutory duty to provide for accommodation, which should be a massive relief for refuges around the country.
However, the Domestic Abuse Act missed out the important word “refuge” in relation to the statutory duty — which means this important ￡125million, which could fund ess-ential shelters for women and children fleeing domestic abuse, could go somewhere else altogether.
The decision on where the money goes lies with local authorities and, to put it politely, not every council decision maker is an expert in domestic abuse.
This crucial funding could, without clear direction, end up paying for general housing, in-house council domestic abuse services or other organisations that claim they can do the same for less money, despite not having the experience or knowledge.
We know how easily this can happen, from previous decisions made by local authorities to direct funding away from established women’s refuge services and to housing associations instead.
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The Sun supports the plea for added help for domestic abuse survivors
We know from what abused women tell us that they are not going to leave their home, and make the huge decision to leave their abusive partner and uproot their life along with the lives of their children, unless they feel that they can absolutely trust the place they are going to.
Many refuges are run by survivors themselves and, from the women I have met, they are some of the most inspirational women you could ever meet.
They are the women you know will understand what you are going through, and who you literally will trust with your life.
The simple truth of the matter is that, while all survivors of abuse deserve support, the vast majority of those running for their lives from perpetrators of domestic abuse are women and their children.
With, on average, one woman every four days being killed by a current or former partner in the UK, that is a very real fear.
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Domestic abuse victims are in need of specialist refuges Credit: Alamy So what do we need?
We need Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to issue a directive to local authorities to fund domestic abuse refuges for women and children with the statutory duty in the Domestic Abuse Act — to ensure the money goes to the refuge services which we need to keep open to stop more women from being killed and children’s lives being destroyed.
Many of the services in our network — more than 46 per cent — provide services for men, too, and many also provide for the LGBT community.
It is not the case that supporting women and children means you are not supporting others.
But what it does mean is you are funding the best-qualified, dedicated and quality services, as opposed to whatever your local council thinks looks like the best deal on paper.
And if more services are needed for more survivors, then find additional funds — don’t take it from the majority of victims who are living in fear of their abuser finding them.
Finally, we are asking Home Secretary Priti Patel to pledge to us that she will step in if local authorities get it wrong. We need councils to sit up and think carefully about how they are spending this precious money.
We know ￡125million is not enough to meet the full cost of refuges but it will go a long way if it is allocated where need is greatest.
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Abuse victims need more support from the Government Credit: Alamy
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The Government has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the Domestic Abuse Act to transform refuge funding and protect lifesaving services that provide excellent value for money — they truly meet the needs of victims and don’t move women on from service to service.
We are calling for you to listen to survivors today, and together we will not only save lives in the future, but genuinely help to rebuild lives.
Most importantly, we will support women and children to have the future they deserve.
Councils must fund specialist havens
By Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley and Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding
THE campaign to make sure domestic violence accommodation had to be provided in every area of our country was brilliantly fought and hard won.
Women’s Aid and The Sun deserve huge thanks for their efforts to secure it and celebrations were aplenty when we finally had it written into law.
But those celebrations will turn into a wet weekend if the Government fails to ensure local councils use the new funding for specialist women’s refuge services.
Victims of domestic violence don’t just need any old roof over their heads when escaping tyranny, they and their children need experts trained in supporting them through their trauma.
They need end-to-end care to help them rebuild their lives. This can only be offered by specialists trained in domestic abuse.
I have seen too many victims of abuse placed in inappropriate accommodation, where victims have been offered nothing more than a weekly check-in and a bed.
This is not what taxpayers want their money spent on. They want it to provide good-quality accommodation, where women are treated with kindness and the support is professional.
I am afraid I have seen plenty of sub-standard, unsupported, non-specialist accommodation.
I have seen women feeling worse and ending up returning to their abusers and, in some of the worst cases I have dealt with, women were murdered in unsafe but allegedly “supportive” accommodation.
We fought hard and won sustainable funding for refuges. We cannot let taxpayers’ money be used to line the pockets of unsafe providers.
Councils must be compelled by the Government to only fund specialist women’s refuges.
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