PRESS STATEMENT: Rights of Women win appeal challenging the gateway criteria for legal aid for domestic violence victims

18 February 2016

We are delighted by the news that Rights of Women have won their appeal challenging the gateway criteria for legal aid for domestic violence victims and we applaud them for bringing this case. It is a bold step in a climate of the lobbying act and the attacks on the independence of the charitable sector as identified by the Barings “independence panel on the voluntary sector”. Smaller specialist women’s organisations are closing from month to month – we are very grateful therefor to organisations like Rights of Women for taking this forward. It is a shame it was necessary,however, since women’s sector organisations had met with officials and repeatedly highlighted all these concerns which are well known to specialist violence against women organisations even as they mooted these changes but it is a sad pattern that those in power seem both to reject criticism and disregard the expertise of the sector.

Rights of Women’s evidence has shown consistently that 40-50% of victims could not meet these criteria and the evidence requested is totally misaligned with the way women experience men’s violence. It is moreover bizarre that the evidence requested by MOJ was incompatible with the evidence required by the Home Office for the same issue.

Whilst we celebrate this victory - it remains the case that whole swathes of law remain out of scope since the legal aid cuts, many of which disproportionately impact on women. For instance there has been an 80% drop in employment tribunals for sex discrimination. Helena Kennedy highlighted in a recent speech at Conwy Hall that legal aid is not merely about law and lawyers – this is about equality of access to justice and is a cornerstone of our democracy.

nia’s Chief Executive, Karen Ingala Smith, said,

“Whilst the Government has an agenda of “Austerity”, wherever you stand on the need for financial restraint – there are always choices to be made. There is no escaping that choices are ideological as much as, or more than, purely financial and any attempt to shrink the state results in further marginalising and disenfranchising some of those most discriminated against. Sadly this is what we are seeing in how these cuts play out for women, all women, but particularly for migrant women and even more so, those with no recourse to public funds.”

**Ends**

Notes:

nia has 40 years’ experience supporting women and girls who have experienced domestic and/or sexual violence and abuse. Last year we provided face-to-face support to 1,060 women and girls, delivered £1,864 hours of counselling support, responded to 2,145 contacts to our information and Support line and trained 277 professionals.

Our services currently include:

  • Three different IDVA services in Haringey, Hackney and Newham where outreach workers support women who have been identified by the MARAC as being at high risk of serious domestic violence and homicide. The Hackney and Haringey services are double accredited holding SafeLives Leading Light status and the Advice Quality Standard for casework with women. The Newham service is a new contract for nia and we are working towards accreditation.
  • niaprovides the East London Rape Crisisforwomen and girls who have experienced any form of sexual violence -including rape, sexual assault and child sexual abuse - regardless of when it occurred, who it was perpetratedby and whether or not it was reported to the police. The helpline operates 6 days a week and last year they received 2145 contacts for crisis support.
  • nia'swork in schools to challenge attitudes that condone violence against women and girls was identified as ‘promising practice in EVAW’s 2011 report A Different World is Possible.
  • Through Reaching Communities nia was funded to deliver Safe Choices which provides intensive support and structured group work programmes to young women who may be experiencing, or are at risk of: sexual violence, sexual exploitation, gang involvement or gang association, and /or violent offending. Safe Choices has been acknowledged as a good practice model in the ROTA (Race on the Agenda) report Female Voice in Violence Project (Feb 2010)..
  • nia is part of ASCENT which is a partnership of 22 specialist organisations within the London Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Consortium, delivering a range of services for survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
  • nia delivers the IRIS project providing training to GPs and in-house support within GP surgeries to improve a doctor’s capacity to identify and support/signpost women experiencing domestic violence to wider support services and improving the health care response to domestic violence and abuse. nia is part of the national implementation team and delivers the service in Hackney. IRIS was identified as good practice in The Lancet in 2011.
  • In addition, nia runs the Emma Project a pioneering service for women who are escaping domestic and sexual violence and who use substances problematically; more than a third of the women who have lived in the refuge have also been exploited through prostitution.
  • Since November 2015, and following the closure of Eaves, nia have delivered the Big Lottery Reaching Communities funded London Exiting and Advocacy Project, (LEA), offering outreach and one-to-one support to women involved in prostitution. The LEA Project helps women access housing, welfare benefits, legal advice, drugs and alcohol services, specialist counselling and routes to exit prostitution, Women are also supported through access to employment training, education, volunteering and sustainable employment.