Annex 2
WOMEN'S AID FEDERATION OF ENGLAND BRIEFING
ON SAFEGUARDING SURVIVORS AND SERVICES
SAFEGUARDING SURVIVORS
AND SERVICES:
THE FUTURE
OF SPECIALIST
INDEPENDENT QUALITY
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
SERVICES
1. Introduction
1.1 Since the first Women's
Aid refuge services in the world were set up 35 years ago by unpaid
women activists and survivors, there have been many changes in
the delivery of domestic violence services. With awareness of
domestic and sexual violence increasing, demand for safe services
has gradually grown and there are now over 370 local organisations
in Women's Aid's network providing more than 500 refuge, outreach
and helpline services to over 320,000 women and children every
year.
1.2 Equally, the noticable
rise of domestic violence upon the political agenda has shown
results—from the first formal multiagency initiatives developed
in the last 1980s by local authorities, police and Women's Aid,
to the recent development of Specialist Domestic Violence Courts
(SDVC) and Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC). The
development of the Independant Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA)
role in particular, ensures that survivors have a higher level
support than formerly through the criminal justice system, and
is often a welcome addition to existing local dedicated services
(and in many areas these IDVA services are also run by them).
1.3 Research demonstrates
that women who have experienced domestic violence have a variety
of short and long-term support needs. Practical and emotional
support to enable survivors to rebuild their lives can best be
given by specialist domestic violence services within the women's
voluntary sector, and survivor feedback has repeatedly attested
the value of these services over the last 35 years.[180]
1.4 It is essential to establish
a secure funding framework for the provision of specialist and
dedicated domestic violence services in all local areas, for all
adult and child survivors of domestic violence. Service provision
should include women-only[181]
refuge accommodation, outreach and floating support, local and
national helplines and advocacy. Specialist services, both within
refuge accommodation and in the community, should also be available
for children and young people who have been traumatised by domestic
violence.[182]
2. Supporting people and the new funding
framework
2.1 The implementation of
the government's Supporting People programme in 2003 afforded
housing-based domestic violence providers the opportunity to properly
cost their services and even enabled the expansion of some services
and creation of new ones. Supporting People funds not only refuge
services but also "floating support services", providing
outreach support to families in their own accommodation, but does
not fund children's or other outreach services and helplines.
2.2 Whilst local services
all complained about the additional administrative burden that
came with Supporting People funding, most would agree that the
Quality Assessment Framework introduced with Supporting People
has ensured a consistent basic standard of service provision.
Supporting People have now also implemented an outcomes based
monitoring assessment tool to evidence the work achieved with
service users. Recently, the move is towards requiring services
to tender for Supporting People contracts. The Supporting People
funding stream is now due to be subsumed into the new funding
framework where local priorities will be identified and therefore
funded, locally through Local Area Agreements(LAAs)[183]
which will be influenced by Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs).
These arrangements will require the LSPs to co-operate with local
partners (including the voluntary sector) in identifying local
priorities and setting targets.
3. Challenges for safeguarding survivors
and services
3.1 Women's Aid is concerned
that the new commissioning framework means that specialist domestic
violence services are under threat, following the move towards
priorities being set and funding allocated at a local level. Whilst
women's organisations represent around 7% of the total voluntary
sector, they are severely under-represented on Local Strategic
Partnerships, comprising only 1.8% of voluntary sector representatives.[184]
Without sufficient participation in local decision-making bodies,
women's needs are not represented or prioritised in planning and
funding strategies.
3.2 Whilst there have clearly
been major leaps forward in terms of mainstreaming domestic violence
services, the identfied need to cut the unsustainable Supporting
People budget[185]
has ensured continuing insecurity for housing-related domestic
violence providers since its implementation. Now, as the funding
framework develops and changes further, the specialist domestic
violence sector, as we know it, is possibly at greater risk of
exclusion than ever before.[186]
4. Women's Aid is particularly concerned
that:
4.1 In general, local tendering
and commissioning processes are not complying with the principles
of the Compact agreement.[187]
For example, in some cases, services have only learned that their
service is at risk after being told by a competitor who has been
invited to tender for it. Others are expected to submit bids within
very short timescales.
4.2 Some services have been
required to compete in the tendering process against large scale
housing associations who are able to offer a cheaper rate but
who have no experience or knowledge of domestic violence and offer
a generic, less supportive service, often running other housing
services with generic housing staff rather than specialist experienced
staff. These issues are particularly compounded for smaller BME
providers and the women and children they support.
4.3 The tendancy towards funding
generic rather than specialist domestic violence services will
result in the loss of 35 years of acquired expertise in relation
to domestic violence being lost. Amongst other issues, a lack
of understanding of the needs of women and children escaping domestic
violence will seriously compromise their safety.
4.4 Some local authorities
are looking to provide mixed sex services as a way of "ticking
all the boxes" and domestic violence services are feeling
pressured to provide mixed sex services rather than lose out on
contracts altogether. This is further compounded by the ambivalence
of the government's position in relation to a gender neutral approach
to domestic violence. We know from years of experience, research
and statistical data that men are overwhelmingly the main perpetrators
of violence, and that violence against women is a direct cause
and effect of women's historical inequality within society.[188]
In order for survivors to feel physically and emotionally safe,
and to enable them to recover from the effects of domestic violence,
they require access to women only services. Whilst some men do
experience intimate violence, we know that the reasons for this,
their experience of it and their needs[189]
are very different to women's.
4.5 There is no clear strategy
for ensuring the full engagement of the domestic violence sector
in the setting of local priorities. Engagement in local strategic
partnership working is inconsistent and non existent for some
providers. There are a variety of barriers to influencing local
strategic decision making and ensuring the needs of survivors
are represented, including:
— Lack of knowledge of meetings
etc.
— Feeling that the provider
input is ignored and so it is pointless.
— Being unable to access the
partnerships (despite efforts).
4.6 Strategic engagement,
negotiation and tendering all require a level of skill and resource
that the domestic violence sector may not have the capacity to
fulfill. Yet these are required if services are to compete in
the current funding climate. Grants do not fund such activity
or training to improve skills within these areas, further compounding
the sectors difficulty in competing with larger organisations
who often have several layers of management.
4.7 Lack of influence from
local domestic violence experts may result in domestic violence
not gaining enough status as a local priority to attract funding
and meet the needs of local survivors, or with a domestic violence
service being misplaced with an inappropriate provider.
4.8 Recent developments aimed
at supporting survivors through the criminal justice system and
increasing domestic violence related prosecutions only address
the needs of 24% of women affected by domestic violence.[190]
Furthermore, these measures and MARACs are only responsive to
those considered to be "high risk". Women accessing
refuge services can be considered medium to high risk as they
have felt it necessary to leave their home to ensure their own
and their children's safety. Of those accessing refuge provision,
although 53% had called the police on at least one occassion,
only 9% had ongoing criminal justice cases.[191]
Domestic violence specialist services continue to attempt to meet
the needs of survivors and ensure their safety without the secure
funding to do so.
4.9 Demand for refuge accommodation
is still greater than supply, with the recommended 1 refuge bedspace
per 10,000 population[192]
to meet the needs of women and children escaping domestic violence
still a distant hope for the future. For women who require culturally
appropriate specialist service provision, or with additional support
needs, or with no recourse to public funds, the likelihood of
finding a bedspace lessens further.
4.10 Few services have the
capacity to meet the needs of women escaping domestic violence
who have additional support needs (eg substance misuse, mental
health issues). Therefore, the most vulnerable women often end
up in the most vulnerable situations. The needs of these women
are less likely to be met by generic services with a low unit
cost per service user.
4.11 The needs of children
affected by domestic violence are still not specifically addressed
by any funding streams. Supporting People does not fund children's
work although there are more children living in refuges than adults.
Research tells us that domestic violence and child abuse are linked[193]
and that children may be affected by domestic violence in a variety
of problematic ways.[194]
Furthermore, the Adoption and Children Act 2002 extended the legal
definition of harming children to include harm suffered by seeing
or hearing ill treatment of others, especially in the home.
4.12 The Quality Assessment
Framework is a generic tool. It does not evidence what we know
to be good practice in relation to the delivery of services to
domestic violence survivors and their children. Furthermore, the
indicators within the Supporting People outcomes monitoring tool
do not fit well with the work undertaken with survivors, nor fairly
reflect the good work that does take place in supporting survivors
and reducing risk.
5. Recommendations to government
Women's Aid recommends that:
5.1 All Local Authorities
are required to adhere to the principles of the Compact agreement
with immediate effect and that compliance is monitered by central
government, and that there are penalties for non compliance.
5.2 A commissioning framework
is developed with guidance to ensure that quality is not lost
to low unit cost. This should take account of and value the expertise
that has accrued within the domestic violence sector, particularly
in working with harder to reach groups.[195]
5.3 Minimum National Service
Standards for Domestic and Sexual Violence Services are required
for the commissioning of such services. (Draft NSSDSVS are currently
being developed by Women's Aid with funding from the Home Office).
National Occupational Standards appropriate to the domestic and
sexual violence sector workforce should be developed and implemented
and required to ensure a quality workforce. A National Accredited
Training programme (currently being developed by Women's Aid for
all domestic violence services), should also be funded and rolled
out to support these standards.
5.4 The government adopts
a gendered definition of domestic violence (as has Scotland) that
acknowledges domestic violence as a form of gender based violence
and recognises and addresses it as part of a wider agenda on violence
against women. That this definition then influences the commissioning
and development of domestic violence services.
5.5 Any tendering and commissioning
proposals undergo a Gender Impact Analysis as is required by the
Gender Equality Duty (which recognises the need for safe, separate
services for women) to assess the impact of any decisions made
upon women survivors, and that this process is monitored centrally.
5.6 A clear strategy for ensuring
the full engagement of the domestic violence sector in the setting
of local priorities is developed, implemented and monitored. This
must include consideration of resource issues and ensure the voices
of survivors are represented.
5.7 Steps are taken to build
the infastructure capacity of small organisations to meet current
strategic demands and and grants awarded take account of strategic
development and training needs as part of full cost recovery.
5.8 There is a central government-led,
long-term plan to ensure security of funding for domestic violence
services and the commitment to ensuring appropriate services in
each area is supported by nationally dictated performance indicators.
5.9 There is recognition that
abused women and their children seek support in a range of settings,
including refuges, drop in centres, outreach services and support
groups, and that these are properly and consitently funded in
all areas.
5.10 Funding is provided to
ensure that women survivors of violence against women from black
and other minority communities can access specialist provision
in every local area and refuges are provided with adequate "last
resort" funding to enable them to support women with no recourse
to public funds.
5.11 Domestic violence service
provision is expanded and resourced to ensure that any women needing
assistance can get it regardless of her support need and/or financial
status.
5.12 A funding stream is identified
for dedicated, therapeutic work with all children and young people
who come into contact with domestic violence services, to address
the impact of domestic violence upon their well being and development.
5.13 Women's Aid, in partnership
with its member services, survivors and government, is funded
to develop an appropriate, outcomes-based framework for evidencing
work with survivors and their children and these become a commissioning
requirement.
180 See Abrahams, Hilary (2007) Supporting women after
domestic violence: Loss, trauma and recovery (London: Jessica
Kingsley Publishers); Humphreys, Cathy and Thiara, Ravi (2002)
Routes to safety: Protection issues facing abused women and children
and the role of outreach services (Bristol: Women's Aid); Bossy,
Jeanine and Coleman, Stephen (2000) Womenspeak: Parliamentary
domestic violence internet consultation (Bristol: Women's Aid
Federation of England); Parmar, Alpar, Sampson, Alice, and Diamond,
Alana (2005) Tackling domestic violence: Providing advocacy and
support to survivors of domestic violence (London: Home Office
Development and Practice Report 34). Back
181
The importance of women-only services-not only refuge accommodation-has
been emphasised by a forthcoming research report by the Women's
Resource Centre. 97% of women supported a women's right to choose
a woman-only support services following sexual assault; 90% of
women think it is very or quite important for women to be able
to choose to see a woman professional when reporting crimes of
harassment or domestic/sexual violence; and 78% of women think
it is very or quite important for women to be able to choose to
see a woman professional when accessing counselling or joining
a support group on personal issues. Women's Resource Centre (October
2007, forthcoming) Why women-only? (London: WRC). Back
182
Domestic violence is identified within Every Child Matters as
a cause of vulnerability having a negative impact on children's
ability to achieve their full potential; and, from January 2005,
under section 120 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the legal
definition of harm to children is extended to include witnessing
abuse within the home. Providing services to address the needs
of children affected by domestic violence is an integral part
of implementing the provisions of the Children Act 1989. See Local
Government Association (October 2005) Vision for services for
children and young people affected by domestic violence (LGA Publications). Back
183
The main delivery agreement between central government and the
local area. Back
184
Gudnadottir, Elin, Smith, Sue, Robson, Sue and Corry, Darlene
(2007) Where are the women in LSPs? Women's representation
in Local Strategic Partnerships (London: Oxfam/Urban Forum/Women's
Resource Centre) available at: http://www.wrc.org.uk/downloads/Policystuff/womenlsps.pdf Back
185
Following an independent review by HACT (2004). Back
186
Concerns raised in this briefing largely represent the views and
experiences of domestic violence services collated via a variety
of consultations undertaken by Women's Aid. Back
187
The Compact is the agreement between government and the voluntary
and community sector to improve their relationship for mutual
advantage and community gain and includes codes of good practice. Back
188
See for example, Walby and Allen (2004) "Domestic violence,
sexual assault and stalking". Back
189
See Amanda Robinson and James Rowland (2007) "What do men
want?" Safe Summer 2007. Back
190
Only 24% of survivors report the violence to justice agencies-Allen
& Walby BCS 2004. Back
191
Women's Aid survey 2006. Back
192
Government Select Committee on Domestic Violence 1997. Back
193
Humphreys & Thiara, 2002. Back
194
Royal College of Psychiatrists (2004). Back
195
There is a range of evidence that older women, younger women,
women with mental health and/or substance misuse issues, disabled
women and women from BME communities may find it particularly
hard to access services. Back
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