VAWG services for diverse needs
Specialist services for Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) inadequately equipped to support all survivors, particularly those with diverse needs.
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Committee recommendation
100match
#11 - Specialist VAWG services inadequately equipped to support all survivors with diverse needs.
Women’s Aid also raised concerns over how well–equipped services were to provide the necessary support to all survivors, stating that there are only two refuges nationally that are wheelchair accessible.24 Written evidence submitted by Commonweal Housing highlighted that mothers with older sons may be considered unsuitable for many refuges, and suggested that this may increase the likelihood of...
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terms: diverse, need, service, vawg
Committee recommendation
100match
#16 - Financial uncertainty significantly harms smaller 'by-and-for' VAWG services crucial for diverse survivor needs.
This financial uncertainty can have particularly devastating consequences on smaller, specialist organisations, including those run ‘by–and–for’ the people that they serve. Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse told us that funding ‘by–and–for’ services not only ensures adequate support for all survivors, regardless of specific needs, but also saves costs. For example, research referenced by Southall Black Sisters suggests that...
Matched on
terms: diverse, need, service, vawg
Committee recommendation
100match
#48 - Policing must demonstrate cultural change through excellent service for VAWG victims.
Policing needs to show rather than tell women and girls that cultural change has taken place. It can start by providing a consistently excellent service to victims and survivors of VAWG. The availability of officers with the right skills and sensitivities is a crucial part of this.
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terms: need, service, vawg
Committee recommendation
90match
#10 - VAWG charities face overwhelming, complex demands, exceeding capacity due to external factors.
Women’s Aid told the Committee that the demands being faced by charities are increasing both in volume and complexity.20 For example, demand for specialist mental health support for survivors has increased following the COVID–19 pandemic, with over 45% of people in refuges now presenting with mental health problems.21 Women’s Aid described the current situation as a “crisis”, and...
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terms: service, vawg
Committee recommendation
78match
#6 - Conduct local VAWG funding mapping and publish cross-government mapping with annual updates
We recommend that local authorities, police and crime commissioners and mayors conduct mapping exercises to identify where they allocate funding to tackle VAWG. We recommend that the Government publish alongside the VAWG strategy its cross-government mapping of where funding to tackle VAWG is being targeted, and provide annual updates. (Recommendation, Paragraph 18) Measuring outcomes of services
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terms: service, vawg
Committee recommendation
78match
#5 - Mandate annual mapping and update of central and local VAWG funding
Mapping of where central and local government are spending money to tackle VAWG should lead to reduced duplication of services as well as fewer gaps in the services funded. Each local authority should annually map, and update, their funding provision in the interests of transparency and accountability, and to deliver more effective spending of public money. Central cross-government...
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terms: service, vawg
Committee recommendation
77match
#187 - 1st Report - Cutting crime: better community sentences
They also argued for more funding for womenâs services. Niki Scordi argued that womenâs services have been âunderfunded up and down the country for over a decadeâ. 358 She welcomed the fact that womenâs services are now commissioned in a holistic way but found that, âas a result ⦠those services are underfunded, because obviously if you are...
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terms: need, service
Committee recommendation
77match
#23 - Publish new hate crime action plan focused on tackling intersectional abuse of Muslim women.
The Government should publish a new hate crime action plan with a dedicated focus on tackling the intersectional abuse of Muslim women. This plan should include mechanisms on how to increase reporting and guidance on how public services should respond to intersectional abuse, including abuse directed at Muslim women. Affected minority groups, especially those who experience intersectional abuse,...
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terms: need, service
Committee recommendation
76match
#170 - 1st Report - Cutting crime: better community sentences
Niki Scordi told us that the commissioning process in 2021 was a considerable improvement on the previous process five years earlier. She talked about âmassive improvementsâ, and specifically welcomed the commissioning of âa holistic serviceâ for women, allowing organisations like hers to become a one-stop-shop where all the rehabilitative needs of female offenders can be addressed (see section...
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terms: need, service
Committee recommendation
75match
#2 - Improve government departments' understanding of domestic abuse survivors' experiences and local service demands.
Government departments do not have a realistic understanding of the experiences of survivors seeking support, nor the demands faced by local services on the ground. Government departments appear to have a starkly different understanding of the support provided to survivors of domestic abuse who seek support in their local communities compared with the reality. We were particularly concerned...
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terms: service
Committee recommendation
70match
#44 - Ensure women's health hubs meet specific demographic needs, accounting for religious and cultural considerations.
Integrated care boards must ensure that their hubs meet the specific demographic needs of their populations, particularly accounting for religious and cultural considerations.
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terms: need
Committee recommendation
69match
#46 - 3rd Report – Access to Justice: Legal Aid
Access to family legal aid is essential to the government’s ambition to halve violence against women and girls. Current eligibility rules, provider shortages and uneconomic remuneration mean that survivors of domestic abuse are often unable to secure representation when they most need it. (Conclusion, Paragraph 134)
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terms: need
Committee recommendation
69match
#23 - Ensure SRHR services in humanitarian contexts reach marginalised groups through FCDO knowledge-sharing.
The FCDO has made positive progress in tackling sexual and reproductive health in humanitarian contexts, such as by adopting the Minimum Initial Services Package. The FCDO should ensure that SRHR services in these contexts reach the most marginalised groups and consider how to further implement SRHR aid programming in humanitarian contexts to meet need. This should include knowledge-...
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terms: need, service
PFD report
65match
Jade Rayner
Concerns included Greater Manchester Police not recording or investigating a sexual offence allegation, which affected victim support. There was also an absence of a clear multi-agency strategy for complex cases and insufficient alcohol misuse support for trauma-driven needs.
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terms: need
PFD report
65match
Emma Day
The coroner identified gaps in inter-agency information sharing and recording of protective orders by various services. Additional concerns included deficiencies in the Child Maintenance Service's handling of domestic violence reports, particularly limited staff training and a restrictive policy for escalating reported threats.
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terms: service
PFD report
65match
Sylvia Crowther
Important steps in the husband's arrest and conditional pre-charge bail were not followed, including the failure to seek the alleged victim's views on bail conditions. Earlier police discussion might have identified the deceased's dependence and the need for alternative support.
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terms: need
Committee recommendation
65match
#4 - Set out approval process for NI EVAWG strategy during Executive suspension
We are concerned to hear about the gatekeeping of funding and other activity by paramilitary groups which has increasingly excluded women and the community and voluntary sector since the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. This has implications for the construction of a post-conflict society in Northern Ireland. We are therefore pleased to note that the Government has...
Matched on
terms: vawg
Committee recommendation
64match
#21 - Limited consideration of women in drug strategy overlooks specific barriers to treatment access.
We were concerned that the government’s drug strategy made little reference to women.70 Written evidence submitted by the Office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner underlined the limited consideration of women and girls in the strategy, and the lack of reference to wider work on women in the criminal justice system.71 This was reinforced by evidence...
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terms: need, service
PFD report
61match
James Stokoe
A lack of formal consultation with carers or partners of mental health service users limits comprehensive risk assessment, especially for domestic abuse involving the elderly. Concerns were also raised about ensuring locally learned lessons are shared nationally.
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terms: service
Committee recommendation
61match
#21 - Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison estate
In its written evidence, De Montfort University told us that ‘softer’ services such as contact with family, education, work based training, peer support and therapy were of huge importance in the rehabilitation of prisoners. It also told us that therapeutic community- based interventions had a greater success rate for female offenders than a prison sentence.46 Despite there being...
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terms: service
Committee recommendation
61match
#24 - Prevalence of sexual harassment in financial services is unacceptable
We have been appalled by testimonies we have received about the prevalence of sexual harassment in the financial services industry, including from some of the brave women who told us about their experiences at our own private roundtable event. Although sexual harassment against women is a societal problem, it is worse in financial services than in many other...
Matched on
terms: service
Committee recommendation
60match
#17 - 1st Report - Cutting crime: better community sentences
The Government should provide additional funding for the various rehabilitative services provided by womenâs centres and explore options for wraparound support to be made available to all people who would benefit from it, giving them the best opportunity to stop committing crimes. This could include the expansion of one-stop-shops and co-located services . (Paragraph 104) Creating incentives (paragraphs...
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terms: service
NAO recommendation
60match
Tackling violence against women and girls
The Home Office, as the lead department for the Safer Streets mission and tackling violence against women and girls, should: a establish a shared vision for how the government?s target to halve violence and women and girls will be met, by: ? developing a system-level plan for halving VAWG that is informed by an evidence-based theory of change,...
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terms: vawg
Committee recommendation
57match
#11 - Set ambitious, long-term proposals for reforming the policing system and addressing crime.
Given the importance of the Government’s ambitions on crime and policing, including halving knife crime and halving Violence Against Women and Girls, and the significant challenges facing the policing system, we encourage the Government to be ambitious in setting out its proposals for reform and not just focus on easy, short-term wins. (Recommendation, Paragraph 43) Impact on police...
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Committee recommendation
56match
#16 - 1st Report - Cutting crime: better community sentences
We note that the Ministry of Justice shares these concerns and has commissioned some specialised womenâs services. This model, in which offenders receive tailored, wraparound rehabilitative support from a single provider in a single location, is proving effectiveâit is dignified, drives down reoffending, and costs less than custody.
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terms: service
IOPC learning recommendation
55match
Recommendation - Avon and Somerset Police, March 2025
The IOPC recommends that Avon and Somerset Police implement a dynamic triaging process for Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) applications. This will establish the level of risk for the applicant throughout the process and prioritise those with a higher level of potential risk. Avon and Somerset Police must take the necessary steps to ensure that the safeguarding of...
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terms: need
PFD report
49match
Anne-Marie Katherine Ellement
The armed forces' code of practice for victims of crime does not specifically address victims of alleged serious sexual assault by another soldier. Additionally, staff implementing measures following a Suicide Vulnerability Risk Assessment received insufficient training and lacked regular follow-up training.
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PFD report
49match
Raneem Oudeh and Khaola Saleem
The coroner noted severe understaffing in the domestic abuse team within the Public Protection Unit, which resulted in cases not being investigated and left victims of domestic violence at serious risk.
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Committee recommendation
49match
#47 - 3rd Report – Access to Justice: Legal Aid
The government’s forthcoming family justice strategy should include specific measures to improve access to legally aided advice and representation for survivors of domestic abuse, including fee uplifts and simplified evidence requirements. (Recommendation, Paragraph 135)
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Committee recommendation
49match
#22 - Fifteenth Report - Improving the prison estate
We also received written evidence from the Prison Reform Trust, which told us that women continue to serve their sentences largely in prisons designed for men and in locations far from home.48 We were therefore concerned that there were no female prisons in Wales. HMPPS recognised that enabling offenders to keep in contact with their families was important....
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Committee recommendation
49match
#31 - Incorporate support for women and children conceived through rape into the Women's Health Strategy.
The Government’s plans for the Women’s Health Strategy for England should include support and guidance for women who have conceived as a result of rape, and for children born as a result of rape. This should include tailored information on the NHS website, including on rape-induced gynaecological issues. (Paragraph 113) Training and standards
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Committee recommendation
49match
#1 - Muslim women experience increasing, gendered, and intersectional abuse and discrimination in the UK.
Muslims in the UK face increasing levels of online, verbal, and physical abuse and discrimination. Muslim women are disproportionately likely to face such abuse and experience it in ways that are specifically gendered and often linked to their race and/or ethnic identity, as well as their perceived inability to retaliate. Such abuse and harassment occurs in everyday situations,...
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classifier match
Committee recommendation
48match
#20 - 3rd Report – Access to Justice: Legal Aid
In furtherance of its strategy to combat violence against women and girls, the government should ensure that a party is not left unrepresented in family proceedings involving domestic abuse, solely because they are in low-paid work rather than in receipt of a passported benefit. (Recommendation, Paragraph 71)
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Committee recommendation
48match
#24 - Continue advancing 'Leave No One Behind' and raise marginalised groups' SRHR rights diplomatically.
Over recent years, there has been an alarming rollback on the rights of women and girls globally, of which SRHR are integral, and further criminalisation of LGBT+ people. The merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with the Department for International Development offers an opportunity for the FCDO to better use its diplomatic position to obtain its development...
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Committee recommendation
48match
#36 - Collect data on non-disclosure agreement use by regulated firms in misconduct cases.
In the meantime, we recommend that the FCA collect data on the use of NDAs by regulated firms in cases of non-financial misconduct. This will provide a more detailed, quantitative picture of the extent of their use in financial services in harassment cases, which could provide valuable evidence to support further action. (Paragraph 168) Sexism in the City...
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terms: service
Committee recommendation
48match
#33 - Launch an awareness campaign to publicise FCA whistleblowing line and clarify its use.
We recommend that the FCA launches an awareness campaign to publicise the availability of its whistleblowing line and clarify the circumstances in which it can be used, including that nothing in a non-disclosure agreement can prevent an individual from reporting harassment to the FCA. This could be part of a wider campaign to map out the different options...
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terms: service
Committee recommendation
48match
#31 - Regulators' powers constrained in tackling non-financial misconduct
There is an important role for regulators to play in ensuring that firms tackle sexual harassment. We welcome the proposals by the Financial Conduct Authority and by the Prudential Regulation Authority to strengthen their regimes for tackling non-financial misconduct, including sexual misconduct. We note, however, that the regulators are constrained by their legal powers to take action, and...
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terms: service
Committee recommendation
48match
#28 - Strengthen whistleblowing legislation to protect and support sexual harassment whistleblowers
We have heard that whistleblowing processes within financial services firms are often ineffective at tackling bad behaviour or protecting those who report harassment. The Government is undertaking a review of whistleblowing laws, and we strongly recommend that the Government seeks to strengthen whistleblowing legislation to provide greater protection and support to whistleblowers in sexual harassment cases.
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terms: service
Committee recommendation
48match
#25 - Adopt zero-tolerance to sexual harassment, ensuring thorough investigations and appropriate consequences
Firms need to adopt a zero-tolerance approach towards sexual harassment and abuse and take concrete action to embed this approach within their organisations. Impunity for perpetrators, who are often well known in their organisations for serial offending, must end. As well as being the right thing to do, several high- profile cases in 2023 show the potential negative...
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terms: need
HMICFRS recommendation
47match
Police perpetrated domestic abuse: Report on the Centre for Women's Justice super-complaint
Police and Crime Commissioners should consider whether specific risks and barriers experienced by PPDA victims are being taken into account when commissioning victims' support services.
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terms: service
IMB recommendation
47match
Askham Grange (2024)
The Board recommends that the Prison Service ensures the provision of services to support prisoners who have been subject to sexual and domestic violence, following the Governor’s requests over the past 12 months.
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terms: service
IMB annual report
46match
Askham Grange (2025)
HMP/YOI Askham Grange is a safe and well-run open prison for women, with strong staff-prisoner relationships and a focus on rehabilitation and resettlement. The Board commends the high standards in education and key worker engagement, as well as the positive regime and family support. Key concerns include the impact of short sentences on resettlement outcomes, the lack of...
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terms: service
PFD report
45match
Jessica Laverack
The coroner raises concerns about insufficient recognition of the link between domestic abuse and suicide in policies, and inadequate systems to identify and care for vulnerable individuals not meeting high-risk criteria. There are also gaps in inter-agency information sharing and coordination for complex cases.
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PFD report
45match
Lee-Ann Ince
Agencies had a limited understanding of how coercive and controlling behaviours impact mental health, did not effectively listen to children's concerns, and failed to recognise the victim's additional vulnerability due to physical health and dependency on the perpetrator.
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Committee recommendation
45match
#15 - 1st Report - Cutting crime: better community sentences
Women entering the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales are often the victims of abuse and discrimination, or suffering from trauma, addiction, and mental health issues. Many of them have caring responsibilities. These issues, acknowledged by the Government in its Female Offenders Strategy, have been explored in depth by others, notably by Baroness Corston and recently by...
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Committee recommendation
45match
#23 - 3rd Report - Legislative Scrutiny: Mental Health Bill
We look forward to the results of the evaluation of two culturally appropriate advocacy pilot schemes, which the Government should expand if the results are positive. (Recommendation, Paragraph 126) Other issues
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CJINI report
45match
Sexual Violence and Abuse: The handling of sexual violence and abuse by the criminal justice system in Northern...
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CJINI report
45match
Domestic Violence and Abuse
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CJINI report
45match
Without Witness: A Thematic Inspection of the Handling of Sexual Violence and Abuse Cases by the Criminal Justice...
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CJINI report
45match
No Excuse: A thematic inspection of the handling of domestic violence and abuse cases by the Criminal Justice...
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