Published: August 3rd 2011 - at 8:50 am

How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage


by Guest    

contribution by Scarlet Harris

Trawling through the 2,200 charities and voluntary organisations facing Local Authority funding cuts listed on False Economy, widely reported in the press yesterday, makes for extremely bleak reading.

After school clubs for kids, Christmas lunches for old people, wheelchair loan services, sexual health advisory services, meals on wheels, support services for disabled children, all axed. Welcome to the Big Society.

I was particularly taken aback by the number of women’s sector organisations and violence against women and girls (VAWG) services that have faced cuts.

I’ve blogged before on the closure of rape crisis centres and cuts to VAWG services. Today the TUC, End Violence Against Women, and the Women’s Resource Centre released a joint statement highlighting the number of VAWG services facing funding cuts.

Holly Dustin, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, pointed out that funding for many of these services was inadequate even before Local Authorities started cutting in earnest.

We already have very patchy provision of these essential services and by cutting funding to existing services, or withdrawing it altogether, Councils are leaving women high and dry at a time when they most need support to escape violence and rebuild their lives.

Violence against women support services are not a luxury that can only be afforded in good economic times, they are core services that all women should have access to no matter where they live.

The scale of the cuts to the VAWG sector will no doubt come as a surprise to the Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone, who just last week boasted that the coalition is doing more than Labour did to protect VAWG services. She said,

“If you look at rape support, under Labour two centres a year were closing. We are going to open four this year. Even in this age of austerity, we’ve ringfenced money for those sort of things.

Sixty four of the cuts listed in the False Economy research are categorised as “Domestic Violence and sexual abuse”. However, there are others that offer VAWG services which fall into different categories.

For example, the Pakistani Women’s Welfare Association in Waltham Forest offers advice and information on domestic violence but falls into the “Community” category. Eaves, an organisation that offers VAWG services, is categorised as a “Housing” organisation.

This isn’t a criticism of the data – it’s simply a reflection of the fact that VAWG is a cross-cutting issue which has wide reaching implications for both individuals and society.

Cuts to housing, policing, courts services, advice services, and Legal Aid – as well specialist VAWG services such as rape crisis centres and domestic violence refuges – will combine to create sometimes insurmountable hurdles to any woman fleeing violence.


Scarlet Harris is the TUC’s Women’s Equality Officer


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Story Filed Under: Blog ,Equality ,Feminism ,Fight the cuts


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Reader comments


1. Mike Killingworth

If all the TU members paid an extra £1 each month, the movement would have £78m a year to spend on Law Centres, Rape Crisis Centres etc etc.

Of course the State should fund these activities, but it ain’t gonna, not even if Labour ever get back in.

2. theophrastus

If ‘charities’ largely dependent on discretionary grants from public bodies can’t raise enough money to survive – from ordinary people and non-government sources such as grant-making trusts – they are most likely not competently run or are not providing a service that people actually want…

A lot of people believe that women’s shelters undermine marriage by giving abused spouses somewhere to flee to. Many local councils now regard someone fleeing domestic violence as making themselve voluntarily homeless and thus undeserving of help.

The Condems are just reflecting this view on a national level.

Aren’t they removing all central government funding related to prevention or protection regarding domestic violence?

Hold on:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/patrick-butler-cuts-blog/2011/jan/25/domestic-violence-charities-face-100-cuts

Yup.

@ 3. Ben2

”A lot of people believe that women’s shelters undermine marriage by giving abused spouses somewhere to flee to. Many local councils now regard someone fleeing domestic violence as making themselve voluntarily homeless and thus undeserving of help.

The Condems are just reflecting this view on a national level”

Correct , its a common view on the street. I run a tours company, however I contract to cab companies occasionally and this is the sort of thing I hear from people. A good few think women have brought it on themselves.

It is incredible that people think this.

The Tories know shelters are not that popular and they are demonstrating breathtaking cynicism as relatively few people use them, meaning there are few votes in them.

Domestic violence on women has become a common concern in all the continents. young girls are being harassed by boys to love them.If they won’t boys are throwing acids on the pretty girls’ faces,some of the girls are being stabbed to death.So many way to nip the young girls at the budding stage itself.And married women are being tortured by men in many ways.Women are receiving torture in every walk of their lives.It’s really a big pity.


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Liberal Conspiracy

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08

  2. Thomas O Smith

    RT @libcon How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08 <fake charities need massacring

  3. Catherine Scott

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08

  4. Sarah Jackson

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08

  5. Daffodil Rites

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08

  6. Ms C

    the cuts to women's services are worse than they look http://tinyurl.com/437v78p via @libcon

  7. Bleam

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08

  8. Brian Moylan

    RT @libcon: How services 4 women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08 #ukpolitics #BigSociety #cuts #cutswatch

  9. Shan Kilby

    the cuts to women's services are worse than they look http://tinyurl.com/437v78p via @libcon

  10. Riven

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08

  11. bob woods

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08

  12. Lianne

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/kx14rs0 via @libcon

  13. Nicola Chan

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08

  14. Hannah M

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/kx14rs0 via @libcon

  15. TP recommends...

    Cuts to charities' funding are going to have a serious impact on violence against women and girls services – @libcon http://dld.bz/ajMsM

  16. catalyst media

    the cuts to women's services are worse than they look http://t.co/OIC9u5O #cuts

  17. David Gillon

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08

  18. Philippa

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08

  19. susan turner

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage http://bit.ly/rq1i08

  20. Twitted by incurablehippie

    [...] This post was Twitted by incurablehippie [...]

  21. cllrdarrenfower

    "…Services for women are being destroyed…." – See: http://tinyurl.com/437v78p

  22. David Davies

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage ~ http://t.co/Pfecqoa

  23. Julie Gildie

    How services for women are being destroyed in the charities carnage ~ http://t.co/Pfecqoa

  24. Society daily 03.08.11

    [...] figures on charity cuts by Scarlet Harris, the TUC’s women’s equality officer, who says services for women are “being destroyed”. The list of individual projects facing the choice of closing services or cutting staff makes for [...]





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