Ealing Council, in the name of value for money, streamlining of services and community cohesion, has shamefully voted through a report which threatens to close down Southall Blacks Sisters.

SBS was founded in 1979 during the Southall race riots to defend the human rights of Black and Asian women who are the victims of domestic violence or injustices in the legal system. Over a thousand women a year contact SBS on issues such as domestic violence, homelessness, immigration, police and racial harassment, health and concerns about their children. Besides advise and support work, SBS successfully campaigned against the One-Year Rule (which required spouses to live together for at least one year before the immigrant spouse was allowed to apply for residency in Britain), supported the strike of Asian women at the Burnsall Factory in Birmingham, and has spoken out about forced marriage and honour killings, when many other groups have been reluctant to do so. Repeatedly defending secularism against all forms of religious fundamentalism and providing support to vulnerable women, SBS is a historically important, radical and essential group.

Under a grants process revision, Ealing Council has been examining how it can ensure “best value for money”, and has threatened to slash SBS’s core funding unless it agrees to "widen its service user group" – but with no additional funding. The report proposing this has now been passed, but the final decisions about funding allocation will be made by April 1; we must support SBS in their fight.

The council committee meeting to decide the future of SBS was held on Tuesday 26 February in front of a packed hall of SBS service users, staff, and both men and women - there in solidarity with SBS. Chairman Jason Stacey (a Conservative councillor responsible for customer relations and community cohesion) opened the item by paying lip service to the important and passionate nature of this issue, but urged everyone to show restraint and not shout out, in order that a decision on the report be made by the end of the meeting. Councillor Scott, also a Tory, spoke for the report arguing that while the council does not believe there is a one size fits all response to domestic violence, it is the council’s responsibility to fund the organisation which benefits the greatest number of people.

Opposing this, Ranjit Dheer (Labour) accused the council of behaving in a cavalier way, bulldozing through the issues because of their attempt to jump on the community cohesion band wagon: “This is a group which has given Asian women, in particular, strength and a voice…and an organisation who 25 years before community cohesion was the buzz word, were marching in Hyde Park building bridges across community groups.” Mr Dheer shamed the council for not carrying out a race equality impact assessment prior to making a decision to withdraw funding, and only doing so “seething and spitting” once they had been threatened with a legal challenge. Mr Dheer argued that important questions about the impact of SBS were not asked as part of this assessment, and that these important questions are still to be asked.

There was only one other short speech made against the report. The rest of the councillors’ contributions argued that a wider service is needed so that all people in the borough be able to access domestic violence services. One councillor magnanimously agreed that SBS have done a good job but asked them to think about the principle. And the principle here is that voluntary organisations cannot just expect to receive public funds unless they meet the current agenda or criteria set by the cabinet – whatever that be! The Council, confirmed its chair, are committed to providing services for domestic violence, but needs have changed. Domestic violence is now a borough wide problem suffered by black and white; men and women. SBS has never denied their services to any woman who contacts them but their focus has out of necessity, and in recognition of the demographic composition of the area, been on meeting the needs of black and minority women.

The local authority’s decision is based on the view that there is no need for specialist services for black and minority women; their ignorant view fails to take account of the unequal social, economic and cultural context which makes it difficult for women to access outside help or seek information about their rights. As SBS point out, “The suicide rates of Asian women for example, are already three times the national average and homicides – where abusive men and families kill their wives, daughters or daughters-in-law – are also high within some black and minority communities.”

Ealing’s pretence to be looking for more generalised groups is undermined by the fact they are seeking to set up Muslim women-only groups. What are the chances that a young Muslim woman who goes to religious counsel will be encouraged if she wants to resist religious or patriarchal authority, whether on dress code, choice of partner, or escape from an oppressive relationship? What are the chances that campaigns in such critical areas of work as forced marriages, honour killings, religious fundamentalism and immigration difficulties, especially the “no resource to public funds issue”, will continue without SBS?

Hazel Blears in one of her community cohesion speals urged councils to “stop funding single ethnic groups.” The Commission on Integration and Cohesion report published in June 2007, stating that single-group funding should be the exception not the rule, puts BME refuges in danger. The report says such funding, for particular ethnic or religious groups, fosters a "sense of separation" and is "a hangover from old identity politics". And this, alongside an aversion to the SBS’s radical, campaigning and feminist history, is really what these cuts are about. This decision is further evidence of the trend across Britain to end funding of Black and ethnic minority organisations, under a false belief that institutional racism is now a thing of the past.

The government’s turn to integrate ethnic minorities as an excuse for cutting funding for targeted services has already been seen in Leeds and Sheffield where support programmes for elderly BME people have been cut. In a recent meeting the Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) Domestic Violence refugees, outreach and advise services made the following observation, “We are now seeing an increasing number of specialist services who are being given no option but to merge with generic bodies and as a consequence services specific to the needs of BAMER women and children are being reduced. Ironically, community organisations which serve established community needs are being destroyed in the name of “community cohesion”.

During the final speech from Councillor Stacey and through the predetermined vote, supporters of SBS shouted out in an attempt to “have a say” and “engage in dialogue”. After the vote a service user calmly asked to be allowed to explain why SBS is so important, she was pulled along by a police officer, who repeatedly ordered everyone to leave, as “the meeting has made its decision, that is what meetings are for, ladies.” After the police forced everyone out of the meeting a demonstration resumed outside, with shouts of “Shame on you.” Ealing Council’s report is part of a trend of cuts damaging to the most vulnerable in society – shame on you Ealing Council and solidarity with Southall Black Sisters.

For more information see www.southallblacksisters.org.uk [1]