Since we launched the campaign last Friday 6th Feb, we have had countless demonstrations of support and have gathered +/-600 signatures. We can’t emphasise enough how important this has been for us!. Now we are at a critical moment and need your support more than ever: We managed to secure a meeting to speak at the council NEXT MONDAY 16th of Feb at midday at Islington Town Hall A briefing was prepared in advance by Sean McLaughlin (Islington Director of Housing and Adult Social Services) basically arguing that LAWA services are of high quality but not ‘value for money’. Apparently interpreters in VAWG generic services are enough to meet the needs of BME women. If this is true, then why our women keep telling a different story? Seems easier to assume that generic services, notwithstanding the good work they do, actually can provide the same type of service that we have been providing for more than 27 years. In reality, we have witnessed thousands of stories demonstrating the exact opposite. Understanding the impact of racism and discrimination in the lives of women and girls within the context of violence IS what makes the difference. And this can only be provided through a culturally sensitive service like LAWA’s. Our service is unique. And in the long run actually saves money as well as lives Camille Kumar, from IMKAAN, a second-tier, human rights organisation, with national membership that represents the expertise and perspectives of frontline specialist women’s services that work to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, said: “For almost thirty years Latin American Women’s Aid has been providing high quality, life saving services to Latin American women and children in the UK, some of whom may never have felt able to access a general women’s service. LAWA has an established reputation among Latin American communities in the UK and acts as a lifeline for many women and children. As the only refuge in the country dedicated to the Latin American community, it is a critical resource for the health, safety and well being of the Latin American population. With a large resident and working population of Latin American people, Islington is the rightful home for LAWA’s refuge and other vital services, such as community outreach and support for children. BME services like LAWA save lives and also save money for local areas. It has been shown that for every £1 invested in a BME VAWG service, up to £11 is returned to the local area as services like LAWA transform the lives of women and children escaping violence while also shifting beliefs and practices in communities to prevent violence in the first place, to foster a culture of zero tolerance for violence against women and girls and to ensure women and children are able to access appropriate specialist support as early as possible, keeping women safe and reducing the costs for other health and other social care services. In interpreting costs alone, LAWA saves Islington services tens of thousands of pounds each year. It is vital that local authorities continue to fund and support BME VAWG services to ensure a healthy national network of refuge provision; to demonstrate genuine commitment to equality duties and to contribute to national VAWG strategy commitments. We call upon Islington council to continue funding LAWA at current levels and for all local authorities to contribute to creating safer, healthier and more equal communities through long term sustainable funding of BME specialist refuges and BME VAWG services” Sarah Green, Acting Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, a national coalition of more than 60 women’s organisations working to end all forms of abuse, said: “The LAWA refuge provides a unique and utterly essential, life-saving service which should be treasured by the borough of Islington. The specialist skills and knowledge of the workers in the LAWA refuge will be very hard to replace if it is lost. Those tasked with making the very difficult spending decisions facing local councils need to know exactly why the LAWA refuge is unique and irreplaceable – its workers are able to provide a tailor-made service to women of Latin American origin and their children fleeing violent relationships in their own language and with an understanding of their culture. This is the most difficult and most risky time for many women, and statistically it is the time they are most likely to be killed. If a service is not right for them there is a higher chance they will return to a violent relationship. I note that the whole Labour Group in Islington signed the ‘Women’s Safety Pledge’ before they were re-elected last April. This included a commitment to protect specialist women’s services. I hope the councillors will look hard at this commitment and at the possibly consequences of the LAWA refuge closure. Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid said: “The national network of refuges is vital, and under threat: BME women’s services in particular have been cut so much that we cannot afford to lose any more. The DCLG has made clear that funding cuts of this kind “[undermine] the government’s approach to tackling violence against women and children”. The reciprocal arrangement of refuges between local areas is essential to the national network: its vulnerability to cuts like this is exactly why we are campaigning for a new national funding solution. LAWA provides a specialism which is completely necessary to the women who use it and it must be preserved as a foundation stone of the national network of refuges.” Please keep supporting us by: Directly tweeting: Council Leader Richard Watts @RichardWatts01, Councillor Paul Convery @Paul_Convery ; Councillor Janet Burgess @JanetBurgess1 and Assistant Chief Executive Lela Kogbara @kogbara . Demand that the council commits to continue funding our Refuge Keep sharing our petition and engaging more people to sign it! http://goo.gl/4c1IYU