The government is still failing to properly protect women from domestic violence, a new report claims.
Campaign group End Violence Against Women (EVAW) said that there are still “critical frontline failings” in support for women, despite the progress made in the last decade.
Funding for domestic violence services is still “precarious”, according to EVAW’s newly published report. The group alleged that local government cuts were putting such services at risk. They also criticised data collection on the issue as “not good enough”. Without more complete information, it is not possible to perform “a comprehensive analysis” of the problem and better advise how to deal with it, the report read.
EVAW co-chair Liz Kelly said there was “a strong policy framework on violence against women and girls in place” which is a significant improvement on how things were in 2005, but there was still progress to be made.
She added:
“The most marginalised women, including women in prostitution and asylum seeking women, have very few rights to protection and support.”
Report author Holly Dustin said there had been “multiple scandals” in the last ten years including several cases of child grooming and the revelations about the late Jimmy Savile. She insisted there was “huge demand from the public to put an end to these scandals”.
The answer to this is focus…. Stop wasting precious time and money and scarce police resources on needless and, in many cases, illegal intrusion into private family life. Focus on genuine violence and not on men that dare to have a difference of opinion with their partner.
This is powerful testimony about the problems faced by women who are victims of DV. I am certain that there is still more to be done to ensure that women are protected.
We have been undertaking a survey of male victims of DV in recent months – which has now closed. I’m able to share her that we received a total of 226 responses to the poll asking men to share their experience of DV within the context of providing the necessary evidence to be able to access Legal Aid. The survey has shown that men were unable to provide the qualifying evidence in 69.84% of cases. This contrasts with the latest Rights of Women poll of 187 respondents where 38% didnt have the necessary evidence. We hope to release the full report before Christmas.