Why women’s domestic violence refuges are not local services

Abstract

In a context of localism and public sector cuts in the United Kingdom, women’s domestic violence refuges are experiencing funding cuts and service restrictions. This article presents findings of a research project, quantifying, mapping and conceptualising the journeys women make to escape domestic violence; journeys that often include accessing a women’s refuge. Analysing administrative, survey and interview data it provides evidence of women travelling from everywhere to all types of places to access refuges, and that refuges are distinctively accessed across local authority boundaries. As a result, it is argued that women’s refuges should not be considered, planned and funded as local services; but as regional and national services, hosted locally.

Sheltering from domestic violence: Women’s experiences of punitive safety and unfreedom in Cambodian safe shelters

“…By doing so, it goes beyond the Anglo-American focus of interdisciplinary academic research which currently exists on safe shelters concentrated on the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States (e.g. Bowstead 2015;Lyon et al 2008;Warrington 2001;Woodhall-Melnik et al 2017).…”

From Pillar to Post: Understanding the Victimisation of Women and Children who Experience Domestic Violence in an Age of Austerity

“…It is no surprise, then, that tackling domestic violence has become a core issue for the current government, as laid out in the Call To End Violence Against Women and Girls paper (Home Office, 2010) and the accompanying (updated) Action Plan published early in 2014, which clearly states that the government is committed to "nothing less than the elimination of violence against women and girls" (Home Office, 2014a:7). In support of this, central government has committed more than £40 million to reduce violence against women and girls over a five-year period from -2015(Home Office, 2014b, which includes a range of service provisions including rape crisis and support services, LGBT sexual violence support services, and other issues that might impact womenincluding domestic violence. In real terms this figure represents a significant cut in spending in relation to the previous Labour Government.…”

“…It is not unreasonable to conclude that living in a violent situation would contribute to issues such as stress and social exclusion. Problematically, however, leaving a violent situation does not necessarily result in an improvement (Abrahams, 2010;Bowstead, 2015) Hilary Abrahams argues that in order for women to fully recover from the effects of domestic violence it is necessary for them to develop a sense of mental and physical safety. This can be achieved, especially in the initial aftermath of leaving a domestically violent situation, through the development and maintenance of supportive relationships (Abrahams, 2010).…”

“…It is not unreasonable to conclude that living in a violent situation would contribute to issues such as stress and social exclusion. Problematically, however, leaving a violent situation does not necessarily result in an improvement (Abrahams, 2010;Bowstead, 2015).…”

“…While the UK Coalition government has stated that they are making violence against women and girls a priority (Home Office, 2011), they have failed to provide adequate funding resources to ensure that services are in place to protect women, with substantial cuts made to domestic violence refuges and other women's services across England between 2009/10 and 2012/13 (Bennhold, 2012), and concordant cuts to the police and the criminal justice system (Johnson, 2012) 1 . Equally problematic has been the variation in funding for domestic violence services at a local level as a result of Coalition introduction of a localism agenda that 'combines the rhetoric of devolution of power to local government with significant cuts to local government funding' (Bowstead, 2015: 328).While ring-fenced funding (from 2003-2009) through the Supporting People Programme had helped to increase service provision and capacity to assist victims of domestic violence, the Coalition Government's approach to local commissioning has made domestic violence services, in particular refuges, vulnerable (Bowstead, 2015) 2 . The cumulative lack of ring-fenced funding over the past ten years has helped to erode support services for domestic violence (Ishkanian, 2014), and has given rise to a situation where practitioners on the ground working in local authorities and third sector organisations to serve women who have experienced domestic violence are making donot only with limited resources, but also an incoherent policy approach.…”