Farah Nazeer, chief executive of Women’s Aid, called on ministers to consider bringing in a legal duty for schools and workplaces to protect victims
Britain’s “dire” refuge crisis must finally be tackled if Labour is to deliver its pledge to halve violence against women and girls, a charity boss has warned.
Farah Nazeer, chief executive of Women’s Aid, told The Mirror that tens of thousands of domestic abuse victims are trapped because of “shrinking” services. She also called on ministers to consider bringing in a legal duty for schools and workplaces to protect victims.
Next month(SEPT) the Government will unveil its long-awaited strategy to tackle the “national emergency” of violence against women and girls. Ms Nazeer said that unless this includes massive changes across education, healthcare, welfare and the justice sector – along with commitments to fund them – it will not succeed. It comes as the Mirror’s Kevin Maguire wrote: ‘Labour must find engaging story for the UK – or face election wipeout’.
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She said the country has been “way too comfortable” accepting women and children being failed, and said it will take a huge drive to put that right. Home Office sources said there will be a “whole government approach” in the new strategy, and all departments have been involved in crucial talks.
Labour came to power promising to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade. “It can be done,” said the Women’s Aid chief.
“But I think it will take the most monumental societal movement to do it. It’s up there with slavery, it’s up there with all of these really big societal shifts. And they can happen, things can change quickly, but it takes it takes a movement and it takes a real determination.
“”And right now we’re too comfortable as a society and we’re too uncomfortable with talking about it and addressing it.”
At the moment, she warned, refuges for women and kids fleeing domestic abuse have a first refusal rate of over 60% because they are unable to cope with demand. Ms Nazeer called on the Government to commit the £600million needed to put this right.
“You can’t really get much worse than that, it’s dire,” she said. “We’re not particularly talking about significant sums of money, £500 million or £600 million, it’s not a huge amount if you think about the combined spend across Whitehall.
“So I always think that these are political choices rather than actual financial constraints. Imagine being a woman who is really struggling. No access to funding, you have your children, you’ve suffered economic abuse. If you know that the likelihood is you’re not going to be able to get into a refuge, what do you do?
“You just stay there. What else can you do? You can’t allow yourself or your kids to be rendered homeless. And that’s a choice that we are putting on people. And we shouldn’t really be doing that as a society.
“My view is that unless you get this part of it right, and it is a small amount of money compared to the combined spend of Whitehall, the rest of it will struggle to deliver.”
Another step the strategy should include is a requirement for employers and education chiefs to support those affected by abuse, Ms Nazeer said.
“More women are harmed by domestic abuse than they are in fires,” the charity chief said. “So but we have a very, very strong structure to prevent fire. So it’s interesting when you think about how society views the gravity that these crimes.”
Asked if there should be laws new laws placing a responsibility on schools and workplaces, she said: ” There’s more societal appetite than there ever has been, so there is also the opportunity to capitalise on that appetite.
“But invariably things often don’t happen without legislation. So I think I think legislation is probably eventually the way to go. B ut it would be a shame to wait a couple of years for legislative timeframe.”
She praised the Government for putting VAWG in sharp focus, but said it will be actions that count. “I think they are very passionate about it,” Ms Nazeer said. “It’s a first I don’t know of any other commitment of this kind has been made by any government. That absolutely needs to be applauded, when it comes to the ambition it needs to be a whole society approach.”
The charity boss praised measures such as Raneem’s Law – named in memory of Raneem Oudeh and her mum Khaola Saleem, who were murdered by Raneem’s ex-husband in 2018. 999 centres will be required to have domestic abuse specialists onhand.
But she said the criminal justice system cannot be the sole focus of any approach. Ms Nazeer said: “There’s been there’s been lots of interventions that have been made, predominantly in the criminal justice space. It all has its place, and it’s absolutely necessary.
“But I think the the reality that we work with is really that only one in five women will ever report to the police. So this is another space where actually most victims occupy where there are specialist services, health, education, prevention, the benefits system, all of these things that women and children are negotiating and are yet untouched. And that’s where most victims reside. And I think that’s the challenge.”
The Government has been looking at approaches taken by other countries, including the way health services respond to domestic violence overseas. It will address the need for the education system to play a role preventing domestic abuse and violence, The Mirror understands.
The document will include funding recommendations to tackle the scourge of VAWG. Officials and ministers from across Whitehall departments have been involved in writing the strategy, which will be released when MPs return from summer recess. “This will be a whole of government strategy,” a source said.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “This government is working tirelessly to achieve its mission of halving violence against women and girls within a decade. Over the past year, we have already taken action to pilot the deployment of domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms, and the use of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, and we are currently legislating for a stronger response to stalking, including strengthening the use of Stalking Protection Orders.
“The VAWG strategy will be a truly cross-government plan. It has been developed through extensive engagement externally and across Whitehall Departments and local agencies. This has included Ministerially chaired roundtables with key sector leads, academics, policing, local practitioners and other government departments.
“Through the ambitious and far-reaching policies set out in that strategy, we will ensure that even more dangerous perpetrators are brought to justice, that victims get the support they deserve, and that we break the cycle which has seen violence against women and girls become a national emergency for our country.”
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