Agenda Responds to the Government's 'Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan'

Agenda welcomes the Government's Domestic Abuse plan, which acknowledges the scale and severity of abuse experienced by women and girls.

Domestic abuse is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality, and it is positive that the plan has explicitly acknowledged that women are disproportionately affected by these harms.

We are particularly encouraged by steps in the plan to improve the response of statutory agencies to survivors of domestic abuse. Agenda research has shown that too many disadvantaged survivors of domestic and sexual violence are failed by systems meant to help them, with the signs of abuse not picked up by professionals and opportunities to provide support and intervention missed.

Because of the range of problems women and girls experiencing multiple disadvantage face, survivors do not typically present at specialist domestic and sexual violence services. Instead they are often in contact with other services, such as addiction, mental health or the police. We welcome, therefore, recognition that to better support survivors, collaboration and coordination between and within statutory services – such as education, health care, social services and criminal justice – must be improved.

Agenda’s Ask and Take Action campaign has called for all public services staff to be trained to spot the signs of domestic abuse, carry out appropriate and sensitive routine enquiry, and safely respond to disclosures. Funding of £3.3 million to roll out the Domestic Abuse Matters training to all police forces, £7.5 million to upskill healthcare professionals to identify, refer and support survivors and consideration of a national rollout of the ‘Ask for ANI’ codeword scheme across Jobcentre Plus offices are all welcome steps. We hope these measures will be effectively evaluated and built-upon, with a longer-term view to ensuring all public services staff are able to spot the signs of domestic abuse and respond appropriately.

We also welcome the revised National Statement of Expectations Guidance on commissioning services to support victims and survivors, which sets out how commissioners should consider the needs of women and girls facing multiple barriers, invest in capacity building for specialist services and ensure that local services are trauma-informed.

Many Agenda members deliver high-quality, gender-specific and holistic support to women and girls to rebuild their lives and cope with the legacy of trauma domestic abuse leaves. Yet many of these vital specialist services remain underfunded and facing a precarious future, including those delivered ‘by and for’ the communities they serve, such as for Black, Asian, minoritised and migrant victims. This needs to be addressed, or change will not happen.

We hope that this guidance, along with the range of measures the Domestic Abuse Plan introduces, represents a step towards long-term sustainable investment for community-based services, and better coordinated and trauma-responsive public services which truly meet the needs of the most marginalised women and girls. They must be ​funded, and they must be heard.