Refuge’s national network of services supports 3,000 women and children on any given day. We ensure that the voices of these women and children are represented in key policy consultations and debates.
APPG on Domestic and Sexual Violence
In November 2013, Refuge contributed oral and written evidence to an inquiry into women’s experience of the criminal justice system by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Domestic and Sexual Violence.
Our evidence highlighted the poor response that many victims of domestic violence receive from the police and other criminal justice agencies, with particular focus on concerns with poor risk assessment, investigation and safety planning. Our submission was deeply informed by the views of women using our services, which we solicited through a series of focus groups and surveys.
Legal aid
In June 2013, Refuge submitted a response to the Ministry of Justice’s ‘Transforming Legal Aid’ consultation, highlighting our concerns over proposed reforms to the legal aid system. We expressed particular concerns that the list of prescribed evidence required to qualify for legal aid would exclude many women desperately in need of support.
Domestic violence remains a deeply under-reported and under-estimated crime. The vast majority of women do not report or disclose the abuse they suffer and so lack the evidence required to obtain legal aid. A recent survey by Rights of Women found that 50% of women did not have the prescribed forms of evidence to access legal aid, and 60% of women took no action in relation to their family law problem as a result of not being able to apply for legal aid[1].
Key meetings
In November 2013, Refuge welcomed the new Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders, to visit our head office and tour the National Domestic Violence Helpline (run in partnership with Women’s Aid). During the visit, we discussed a number of key issues regarding women’s experience of the criminal justice system. We look forward to working closely with the DPP to improve CPS outcomes for victims of domestic violence.
Refuge’s chief executive, Sandra Horley CBE, also met with the new Home Office Minister of State for Crime Prevention, Norman Baker, to raise our concerns on a number of issues, including the ongoing cuts to local funding for specialist domestic violence services. Refuge will continue to liaise closely with the Home Office to ensure that its VAWG strategy better meets the needs of women and children experiencing domestic violence.
Influencing commissioning: PCCs and beyond
Refuge continues to engage with the commissioners at all levels to ensure that specialist domestic violence services remain responsive to the diverse needs of women and children. We have met with a number of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and will continue to work closely with them to ensure that specialist service provision is protected in future PCCcommissioning activity.
In November 2013, Refuge was also invited to speak at a Home Office eventdesigned to explore the potential impact on delivery of VAWG services within the new commissioning environment. Refuge’s head of development, Tracy Blackwell, spoke about the various challenges facing specialist VAWG providers like Refuge, urged commissioners to recognise the huge value of specialist services and stressed the need for providers to demonstrate their outcomes.
Welfare reform
Refuge remains concerned that reforms to the welfare system are negatively impacting both women and children experiencing domestic violence, and specialist service providers. We are engaged in ongoing dialogue with the Department of Work and Pensions in order to raise our particular concerns over the definition of supported exempt accommodation, the impact of the benefit cap under Universal Credit and the application of the under-occupancy tax to women with sanctuary measures installed in their homes. Earlier this year, Refuge chief executive Sandra Horley wrote a comment piece in the Guardian newspaper highlighting our concerns (‘Welfare reform piles pressure on victims of domestic violence’, 19 June 2013).
Clare’s Law
On 25th November – the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – Theresa May announced the Government roll out of the national domestic violence disclosure scheme,known informally as ‘Clare’s Law’. Refuge chief executive, Sandra Horley CBE,undertook extensive media work in response to this announcement, explaining Refuge’s concerns over the scheme. She said:
“Clare’s Law may help a few individuals but domestic violence is a huge social issue with a massive death toll. We need to help the majority of victims – not the few. Themost effective way to save lives on a large scale is toimprove police practice and protect the vital services run by specialist organisations like Refuge. Let’s get our priorities right.”
In September 2013, the Home Secretary Theresa May commissioned the HMIC to conduct a national inspection of the police response to domestic violence. Refuge was encouraged that her decision to launch this inspection was prompted, in part, by our campaigning around a number of high profile domestic homicides in which evidence was found of serious police failure, including the death of Maria Stubbings(right) in Essex in 2008.
Refuge isplaying an integral role in the HMIC inspection: we sit on the expert Reference Group and are providing a team of peer reviewers to attend inspections. We have also facilitated a focus group with a number of domestic violence survivors to inform the HMIC’s inspection process and ensure that its final recommendations adequately reflect the needs and experiences of abused women and children.
Slack inquest
Refuge has worked closely with the family of Rachael Slack and her two-year-old son, Auden(left), ever since their deaths at the hands of Rachael’s ex-partner, Andrew Cairns, in 2010. In October 2013, we attended the inquest into their deaths, where the jury ruled that Derbyshire Police made a number of failings that contributed to the killings.
Rachael’s family are backingRefuge’s call for the Government to open a public inquiry into the response of the police and other state agencies to victims of domestic violence. Whilst we are encouraged that Theresa May has commissioned an HMIC inspection, we have concerns that this inspection does not go far or wide enough.
State failure goes much wider than police failure – a number of domestic homicide inquests have highlighted serious failings on the part of the CPS, health services and social services. A public inquiry would take a broad multi-agency perspective and explore the issue of domestic violence from every angle. It would also hear from victims, families of victims and expert organisations like Refuge – those voices with the most to offer. A public inquiry would explore why so many women and children are still not getting the support and protection they deserve. Refuge is urging people to sign our petition supporting our call for a public inquiry here:
In November 2013, Refuge released findings from a Social Return on Investment (SROI) study showing that our specialist services for women and children create £33 million in social value per year. The SROI study, which was undertaken by the New Economics Foundation, measured the impact generated by Refuge’s specialist services in one year for three sets of stakeholders: women, their children, and the state. Three of Refuge’s specialist services were analysed: refuges, community outreach services and independent domestic violence advocacy.
The study found that every £1 invested in these services generates £3.54 in social value. Social value was created primarily by helping womenand children to escape from violent partners, improving their health and wellbeing and supporting them to gain financial security following their experience of domestic violence.
Refuge has created a unique outcomes monitoring system called REMIT.We are delighted to announce that, from 2014, REMIT will be available to all organisations working with survivors of domestic violence.
REMIT can help organisations to evaluate the effectiveness of specialist services for victims of domestic violence and other types of VAWG.Through REMIT, Refuge can produce bespoke, evidence-based reports on a wide range of outcomes which can help demonstrate effectiveness to funders and commissioners. Refuge can provide training, support and technical assistance with the use of REMIT, as well as expert data analysis and production of comprehensive outcomes reports.For more information, please .
Copyright Refuge 2013. Registered charity number 277424. Photography copyright Julian Nieman.
- Evidencing domestic violence: a barrier to family law legal aid, by Rights of Women, Women’s Aid and Welsh Women’s Aid (2013)