Refuge responds to PAC’s inquiry into tackling VAWG

Responding to the Public Accounts Committee’s inquiry on Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, Ellie Butt, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Refuge:

“Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is at epidemic levels. Today’s report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is a much-needed reminder that the Government must take urgent action if it is to achieve its pledge to halve VAWG within the next decade.

“After years of chronic underfunding, many specialist support services for survivors are at breaking point, as highlighted in the PAC report. Refuge has consistently stressed the importance of sustainable funding for the VAWG sector, and yet, the vast majority of organisations are relying on precarious short-term funding to carry out their lifesaving work.

“As the only organisation of its kind in the UK to have a specialist tech-facilitated abuse service, Refuge is all too aware of the danger posed to women and girls when perpetrators weaponise technology. Online misogyny and tech-facilitated abuse is at an all-time high, but as demonstrated in the PAC report, the Government is failing to hold tech platforms to account, and is not sufficiently equipping educators to teach young people how to use technology safely.

“Long-term systemic change is crucial in preventing VAWG, as the PAC report makes clear. From supporting the stability of the VAWG sector with sustainable funding, to dismantling harmful attitudes among young people through improved education, the Government must take a more proactive approach if it is to get to the root of the problem.

“We sincerely hope the Government’s new VAWG strategy, set to be shared in later this year, will include a thorough, cross-Government plan for tackling the alarming levels of gender-based violence and abuse in the UK. At the centre of this plan must be ring-fenced, multi-year funding for specialist organisations to ensure as many survivors as possible can access vital support.”