Prime Minister Theresa May today announced a major step forward in the fight to secure vital funding for women's refuges, which save the lives of hundreds of women each year. The government plans to introduce new rules which mean councils in England will have a legal duty to provide secure accommodation for victims of domestic abuse. It will hopefully mean some long-awaited financial security for refuges, which have struggled to stay afloat thanks to dwindling resources.
Over the past few years, we have seen numerous refuges and other support services close, leaving sufferers of domestic abuse without any means of escaping the dangerous environments they're living in. Last year, the Guardian reported council funding for women's refuges had cut by almost £7 million since 2010.
The lack of secured funding for refuges is an issue that's been right at the top of Women's Aid's priority list, with the charity's 'SOS: Save Refuges, Save Lives' campaign having been up and running since 2014. Research carried out by Women's Aid revealed that 60% of all referrals to refuges were declined in 2016-17, mostly due to lack of space. On one day in 2017, 94 women and 90 children were turned away from refuges because there was no room to house them.
What refuge resources are available to domestic abuse victims is currently a postcode lottery, dependent on how much money each council ring-fences for the issue. But this is something Theresa May intends to change with the new rules; it's hoped councils will be legally bound to devote a certain level of funding for women seeking refuge from abusive or violent homes.
Women's Aid has welcomed the announcement, with acting co-chief executive Nicki Norman calling it "a major step forward" off the back of the charity's campaign.
"A sustainable future, that ensures services with the expertise to meet women’s needs are resourced to meet demand, remains an urgent priority," said Norman.
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"This new legal framework is a significant step in the right direction, and should help to ensure consistent refuge provision across the country to end the postcode lottery that survivors currently face when seeking safety."
The announcement of the new funding regulations comes following the release of the Draft Domestic Abuse bill earlier this year, which provides for various important changes in the way the government handles domestic abuse. You can read more about that here.
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Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. news, features and health. The route to her heart is a simple combination of pasta and cheese (somewhat ironic considering the whole health writing thing), and she finds it difficult to commit to TV series so currently has about 14 different ones on the go.
