The government has recently pledged £76m in a new funding for charities to help survivors of domestic and sexual abuse and victims of modern slavery in England (1). Thankfully, they have acknowledged the severe situation many women face across the UK, which is worsened by lockdown measures. 

While £76m is a start and might seem to be a generous amount, it needs to be pointed out that an almost equal budget of £75m has been allocated to special charter flights allowing UK travellers to return home during the Covid-19 crisis (2). Using such an amount to help tens of thousands of travellers is admirable and appreciated, but pledging the same amount to deal with 1.32 million annual domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes against women (3) is, unfortunately, not enough. 

Some calculations have shown that the government's emergency funds work out to an average of less than 58.00 GBP per domestic violence victim. This is not a sufficient amount to allow charities operate to their full potential or to provide urgent housing for those who suffer from domestic abuse, let alone allow for any other support.

To place our request in full context, we believe the government should increase the allotted amount to sufficiently reflect the following: 

- Almost one in three women aged 16-59 will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime. (4)

- Two women a week are killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales alone. (5)

- It is estimated that around three women a week commit suicide as a result of domestic violence. (6)

- 40% of homeless women state domestic violence as a contributor in their homelessness (7)

- An estimated 39,000 babies under one year of age live with domestic violence in the UK (8)

- 41% of UK girls aged 14 to 17 in an intimate relationship experienced some form of sexual violence from their partner (9)

- It is estimated that domestic violence costs the UK almost £23 billion a year (10)

SINCE 2010, THE UK HAS LOST ALMOST 20% OF ITS SPECIALIST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE REFUGES (11). PLEASE SUPPORT OUR PETITION TO RAISE MUCH NEEDED AWARENESS OF THE CURRENT STATISTICS AND TO REQUEST ADDITIONAL FUNDING THAT WOULD HELP THE RISING NUMBERS OF VICTIMS ACROSS OUR NATION. 

Leading charities in this field are Refuge UK & Women’s Aid. If you are reading this, please also consider a direct donation or volunteering.

SOURCES

1. https://www.itv.com/news/2020-05-02/coronavirus-daily-briefing-robert-jenrick-dr-jenny-harries-testing-tracing/

2. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/03/government-and-airlines-agree-partnership-to-get-stranded-brits-/

3. https://www.refuge.org.uk/our-work/forms-of-violence-and-abuse/domestic-violence/domestic-violence-the-facts/

4. Office for National Statistics (2019) Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2019

5. Office for National Statistics (2019) Homicide in England and Wales: year ending March 2018 (average taken over 10 years)

6. Professor Sylvia Walby (2004) The Cost of Domestic Violence

7. Shelter (2000), Homelessness: what’s gender got to do with it?

8. NSPCC (2011) Estimates of the number of infants (under the age of one year) living with substance misusing parents

9. University of Central Lancashire (2015) Written submission from the Connect Centre for International Research on Interpersonal Violence and Harm

10. Professor Sylvia Walby (2004) The Cost of Domestic Violence (total cost of domestic violence to the state, employers and victims – including the human and emotional cost

11. Women’s Aid (2014)

Image rights: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/05/02/domestic-abuse-victims-shares-76-million-safe-spaces-hotlines/