Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women\u2019s Aid, comments:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We welcome the government\u2019s ambitious commitment to halving violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the next decade, as outlined in their strategy published today.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We are pleased to see the emphasis the strategy places on\u00a0long-term\u00a0prevention, particularly new investment in programmes that\u00a0aim to shift\u00a0attitudes of children and young people, ensuring that they\u00a0understand\u00a0what healthy relationships\u00a0must\u00a0look like.\u00a0Our own research\u00a0tells\u00a0us that children who were exposed to content like that from Andrew Tate, were five times more likely to view hurting someone physically as acceptable, if they apologised afterwards, so this intervention is\u00a0absolutely vital.\u00a0We also welcome much-needed plans to improve local commissioning\u00a0standards\u00a0which, for too long, have resulted in a postcode lottery of support for victims and survivors.\u00a0Looking ahead, it\u00a0is fundamental that there is a focus\u00a0not just on\u00a0setting national expectations\u00a0\u2013 but\u00a0on ensuring robust implementation and accountability on the ground,\u00a0so\u00a0that all women and children experiencing abuse are able to access lifesaving support\u00a0when they need it most.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This\u00a0strategy\u00a0is a\u00a0commendable effort\u00a0by\u00a0government to deliver\u00a0a whole system\u00a0response to VAWG, including through long-awaited interventions in healthcare, which\u00a0should provide\u00a0additional\u00a0resource to complement the vital work being delivered already by specialist services.\u00a0However,\u00a0we are mindful that frontline services will experience\u00a0additional\u00a0strain following a\u00a0planned increase in referrals through the NHS, as well as\u00a0via\u00a0education and criminal justice systems. It is important that these services\u00a0are well-equipped to respond, given that over 60% of referrals into refuge\u00a0are\u00a0already declined, primarily due to a lack of bedspaces.\u00a0Additional\u00a0funding by\u00a0government into safe accommodation and other specialist services is welcome, but\u00a0this needs to go\u00a0much\u00a0further, including through ring-fenced investment in services run by and for Black and minoritised women\u00a0and dedicated support for child\u00a0victims\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While\u00a0we also acknowledge\u00a0the government\u2019s\u00a0efforts to encourage reporting of abuse by migrant victims and survivors,\u00a0significantly more remains to be done to ensure these most vulnerable victim-survivors are protected and supported,\u00a0as well as specific funding\u00a0commitments towards\u00a0migrant survivors of\u00a0domestic abuse.\u00a0The\u00a0Home Office Flexible Fund, administered by Women\u2019s Aid via our network of specialist services and delivery partners,\u00a0remains\u00a0crucial\u00a0for supporting women, such as those with no recourse to public funds, in times of crisis, and we advocate for sustainable funding for this lifeline.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, it is critical that through the delivery of this\u00a0VAWG\u00a0strategy,\u00a0the\u00a0wider\u00a0expertise\u00a0and\u00a0fullest\u00a0potential\u00a0of\u00a0the specialist domestic abuse sector,\u00a0including\u00a0the\u00a0by and for sector,\u00a0is\u00a0recognised.\u00a0Our specialist\u00a0members already\u00a0deliver\u00a0educational\u00a0work in schools,\u00a0provide\u00a0therapeutic services and\u00a0train of professionals,\u00a0amongst a\u00a0myriad\u00a0of\u00a0expertise\u00a0which compliments\u00a0their role\u00a0in delivering safe accommodation, as well as frontline and community-based services.\u00a0We strongly urge that the sector\u00a0is\u00a0heavily involved in the\u00a0funded\u00a0delivery of these new and vital aspects of the strategy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We will now take time to familiarise ourselves with the strategy and consider its impact on our diverse group of member services across England. We will respond more fully in due course.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Women’s Aid responds to government’s Violence Against Women and Girls strategy Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women\u2019s Aid, comments:\u00a0 We welcome the government\u2019s ambitious commitment to halving violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the next decade, as outlined in their strategy published today.\u00a0\u00a0 We are pleased to see the emphasis the strategy places on\u00a0long-term\u00a0prevention, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1322,"featured_media":49215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2082,2083,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-external-affairs","category-policy","category-news","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n