The UK Government has today announced that £53 million will be allocated over the next 4 years towards addressing domestic abuse perpetrators that ‘pose the highest risk’. Welsh Women’s Aid are concerned that this funding announced in isolation will result in strengthening just one element within a system which must effectively tackle violence against women and girls at all levels. Allowing one element to be disproportionately supported, runs the risk of destabilising an already fragile landscape of provision and leaves services and the survivors they support behind.
Work that tackles perpetration is important, but this announcement appears to focus resources on a small number of perpetrators many of whom have already been identified within the criminal justice system or who are already known to other agencies. The criminal justice system is an important part of tackling VAWDASV (violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence) but it is only one part of a much bigger system that looks to protect all survivors from harm.
Many instances of VAWDASV never reach the criminal system for a number of reasons and it is important to reflect this in the Government’s approach to ending the epidemic that is facing many across Wales and the rest of the UK. It leaves a system that is imbalanced and puts further pressures on a VAWDASV sector that is already at breaking point and has been for a number of years.
Without addressing the root cause of violence against women and girls and ensuring that it is stopped before it occurs, survivors will continue to face the consequences of a system that focuses too heavily on one approach.
A sustainable end to violence against women and girls must come from a whole systems approach which looks at prevention and early intervention as well as addressing those who are identified as posing the highest harms. This cannot be achieved without the voices of all survivors and this is why it is so vital that by and for services are centred in this work. We must strive to stop violence against women and girls before it occurs and ensure that all survivors are properly at the earliest opportunity and appropriately supported with services that are fully funded.
Sara Kirkpatrick, CEO of Welsh Women’s Aid said:
“This announcement presented in isolation to other commitments and in advance of the VAWG strategy runs the risk of undermining confidence in our shared commitment to a whole systems approach one which ensures that prevention and early intervention are equally committed to alongside a robust criminal justice response.”