Please sign the petition to save specialist domestic violence services for Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee women and children

Posted on December 1, 2008
Filed Under BME, Campaign, Government, London, Violence Against Women, Women's Group | Comments Off

Imkaan is a second tier national charity that supports and advocates frontline domestic violence (DV) services for Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) women and children. More detail about this campaign is available on our website http://www.imkaan.org.uk in our publication, ‘A Matter of Life and Death’. This can be found under the ‘Policy Development’ tab, in ‘Papers and Reports’. This publication follows from the public meeting held in Westminster on February 2008 to highlight that the government’s funding and commissioning policies are having a detrimental impact on the BAMER refuge sector that helps BAMER women and children exit violence.

Thankfully since that public meeting, the need for specialist services for BAMER women and children and the Government’s over emphasis on criminal justice interventions was acknowledged as part of the Home Affairs Committee Report to Government to which Imkaan submitted evidence earlier this year. Also since the public meeting, Southall Black Sisters (SBS) won their case against Ealing Council which means that Ealing Council will need to review their decision to cut funding to SBS, review their commissioning strategy and equalities impact assessment.

However, without a change in the approach to local commissioning and a withdrawal of the cohesion policy we are continuing to lose grassroots services to large, mainstream, generic organisations that have little understanding or experience of delivering services for women and children. The situation is becoming critical as we now only have 50% of the specialist independent BAMER women’s led organisations across the UK that existed five years ago. Further, few resources currently exist to fund crucial services such as outreach, advocacy, legal advice, work with children.

Independent BAMER women’s groups are crucial in helping women to access appropriate support, exit violence as well as having a significant impact on their health, well-being and life opportunities. Research from the Women’s Resource Centre has shown that over 90% of women support the right to have a choice about being able to access women only services and professionals when they report domestic and sexual abuse. Yet, it is frontline women’s services that continue to struggle in the current environment.

Please support the sector and Imkaan members that are providing vital services, please do this by signing the on-line petition to the Prime Minister. We are asking him to urge the Department for Communities and Local Government to clarify its position on ‘community cohesion’ and Supporting People (now falling within Local Area Agreements). Both of these are leading to the funding of generic ‘violence against women’ services and the loss of targeted, culturally specific, support services that provide crucial pathways to safety for vulnerable women from BAMER communities experiencing violence.

The petition can be found by following the link http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bamerwomensrefuges

THANK YOU.

See earlier postings:
* The Crisis Facing Black and Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) Women’s Services
* Muslim Arbitration Tribunals undermine women’s rights