The Local Government Service Group Executive of the public services union Unison has proposed to its conference (16-17 June) to highlight the cuts for funding domestic violence services as a part of a broader campaign for local government funding.
Before the pandemic, refuges, and services for victims of domestic abuse were already severely under-resourced, and in many areas failing to keep up with demand after successive rounds of funding cuts. The Covid pandemic further worsened this, leading to a sharp increase in domestic abuse, financial abuse, and other gender-based violence.
A significant portion of funding for support services for victims of domestic violence comes from local authorities’ budgets. Research by Women’s Aid found that 59% of local authorities had cut their funding in real terms in 2019-20.
In the 2021 Autumn budget, the government pledged an additional £185 million funding for support services for victims of domestic violence by 2024-25, an increase of 85% from spending in 2019-20. However, the sector has warned that this sum is not sufficient to address demand.
According to Women’s Aid, an annual investment of £409 million is needed to fund domestic abuse services. Violence against women remains widespread with devastating impacts on victims, survivors, and their families. Services are usually run in the third sector on grant funding, meaning workers are precarious and the future of services is shaky.
A concerted campaign from the unions includes pushing the Labour Party.
Yvette Cooper, Shadow Home Secretary, announced Labour’s commitments at Party Conference:
“The next Labour government will put rape investigation units in every force, domestic abuse experts in every 999-call centre. We will require police forces to use tactics normally reserved for organised crime or terrorist investigations to identify and go after the most dangerous repeat abusers and rapists and get them off our streets.”
This comes as part of Labour’s mission "to halve incidents of Violence Against Women and Girls within a decade" through improving police ability to capture and jail perpetrators.
Focus on dealing with domestic violence after a crime has been committed and through the criminal justice system missed most of the key factors in prevention and support for victims. Factors contributing to the increased incidence of domestic abuse have been extensively documented.
We know that poverty has driven an increase in domestic violence. Inadequate funding for domestic violence services and refuges mean women are turned away. The Observer reported in 2023 that safe housing was denied to more than 10,000 women in England escaping domestic abuse in a year.
Restoration of local government funding, in-sourcing domestic violence services, and a plan to increase wages and benefits would reduce violence and make escaping to safety easier.