Labour’s new budget fails survivors of domestic abuse

Our first-ever woman chancellor Rachel Reeves promised no return to austerity, and a budget that delivered for women. Meanwhile, just a few months ago, the annual policing statement from the National Police Chiefs’ Council declared violence against women and girls (VAWG) an unprecedented “national emergency”. This statement revealed that VAWG related crimes recorded during 2022/23 accounted for 20% of all police recorded crime. As the CEO of Refuge, I am sadly all too aware that police data captures only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this issue, with many survivors understandably too fearful to report domestic abuse in the first place and women’s confidence in the criminal justice system at an all-time low. 

Against this backdrop of what has been widely described as a VAWG “epidemic”, I’m deeply distressed that the government’s Autumn budget makes no specific commitment to new funding to tackle VAWG. The Chancellor’s announcement last week neglected to mention the safety of women and girls, with not one single reference to VAWG in Rachel Reeves’ entire speech. Not only does this call into question the Labour government’s political statements about VAWG being treated as a priority, but it also represents a total failure to address the chronic underfunding of lifesaving domestic abuse support services which have been on a cliff edge for years.  

While the government’s manifesto pledge to “halve VAWG in the next decade” is an extremely welcome one, this commitment is worth absolutely nothing if it is not backed up by dedicated funding and investment in specialist VAWG services. Tragically, we know that around one in four women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, with one woman killed by a partner or ex-partner in England and Wales every five days.  

As the CEO of Refuge, I have seen firsthand the crucial role that specialist domestic abuse services play in providing lifesaving support to survivors in refuges and community settings, allowing them to find safety and rebuild their lives free from abuse, but decades of chronic underfunding have left services like ours at breaking point. I hoped the Autumn Budget would outline clear steps to redress this bleak reality, but sadly despite extensive sector campaigning this did not happen. 

Last week, Refuge along with 21 other leading VAWG organisations called on the government to provide an annual funding settlement of £516m or more per year for refuge and community-based services, and separate ring-fenced funding at a minimum of £178 million to fund specialist ‘by and for’ organisations to support marginalised survivors who face even more barriers to accessing vital support. 

Unfortunately, these funding asks have been ignored, and even worse, the budget lacks any explicit detail about how much funding has been set aside to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG) at all. Worryingly, the only two references to funding for tackling VAWG in budget documents are in the context of Home Office and law enforcement budgets in relation to funding to support the implementation of Raneem’s Law and support for the “safer streets mission” which is just one component of what’s needed to halve VAWG. 

The budget lacks any explicit detail about how much funding has been set aside to tackle violence against women and girls

While any funding aimed at fulfilling the pledge to halve VAWG should be welcomed, funding Raneem’s Law (which will see domestic abuse specialists embedded in 999 control rooms) which the government itself announced, is well below what I would regard as even the bare minimum. Similarly, while we were pleased to see that funding for law enforcement will be used to support the government’s pledge – we urgently need further detail on how much of this funding will be reserved for tackling VAWG, and how it will be used in pursuit of this goal.  

Specialist frontline domestic abuse services like Refuge’s will be essential to delivering the government’s mission, and we urgently need investment to reverse chronic underfunding and operate on a sustainable footing.  Years of austerity, the pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis have put the VAWG sector under immense pressure at the same time as we are seeing record levels of VAWG - with this summer alone absolutely dominated by news headlines about killed women and misogyny.  

On top of this, cases of male violence against women and girls are being exacerbated by increasingly complex types of offending that require our expert support. This is one of the reasons Refuge set up its specialist sector-leading technology-facilitated abuse and economic empowerment service in 2017 – recognising that as well as physical violence, domestic abuse can take the form of an insidious complex pattern of behaviours rooted in coercive control, with perpetrators increasingly weaponising technology to perpetuate abuse. For these essential services to be able to continue supporting survivors who desperately need them they must be granted long-term, sustainable, ringfenced funding. 

Violence against women and girls cannot be treated as a problem in isolation from other social issues

At the same time, VAWG cannot be treated as a problem in isolation from other social issues. I was pleased to see an increase in funding for social housing, but this must be effectively deployed in practice to improve access to housing for survivors of domestic abuse. In a similar vein, the budget’s allocation of funding to probation service is welcome, but this represents just one area of the criminal justice system that urgently needs investment so that women and girls feel supported and are able to access justice. 

As the CEO of Refuge, I have witnessed extremely concerning developments since the start of the SDS40 early release prison scheme, including survivors’ safety being put at risk because of loopholes which resulted in domestic abusers being let out early – with many survivors unaware that their perpetrator was being released – despite the sector’s repeated warnings to the government. We have also seen systemic failings with implementation that include the mistaken release of 37 offenders, and prisoners being released without appropriate measures such as tagging.

In September, research from the Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) revealed shocking levels of domestic abuse and misconduct by police officers, exposing a culture in which offending officers are able to act with impunity. Refuge have long campaigned to ‘Remove The Rot’ and ensure policing improves its approach to tackling VAWG. Change must be ideological, rooting out the misogyny that is rampant in forces, but investment is needed to improve training around the dynamics of domestic abuse, not just in 999 emergency call centres but across the force. 

Court delays have left the justice system at breaking point, with women and girls’ confidence in securing justice at an all-time low, while a woeful lack of legal aid has prevented survivors from effective access to legal advice and dispute resolution. While the budget vaguely references Home Office funding being used to improve confidence in the justice system – it is not clear how or whether these chronic issues will be addressed.  

If the government is serious about tackling VAWG, it is imperative that we see dedicated funding for specialist VAWG services, as well as investment in making the criminal justice system as a whole work better for survivors and funding for social and welfare policies to ensure the most marginalised survivors have the support they need.  

Without any significant new funding, women and girls will not be able to access lifesaving support services when they need them most and the government’s pledge to halve VAWG in the next decade will be impossible to fulfil.