Over £17 million has been awarded to programmes across England and Wales to support children affected by domestic abuse.
The funding will develop early intervention strategies to prevent violence against women and girls, the Safeguarding Minister announced today (4 January).
More than £10 million has been allocated to organisations providing vital support to children who have survived domestic abuse, such as counselling and 1:1 support. These projects include Victim Support, providing help across London and the South East.
This will be rolled out through the Children Affected by Domestic Abuse Fund. Originally set up in 2018, this fund has already supported thousands of children and families.
Minister for Safeguarding, Sarah Dines, said:
The impact of domestic abuse is devastating and it is especially heartbreaking that children are being affected by this horrific crime. This is why we have invested additional funding into vital services supporting children who have been impacted.
We are also proud to invest further in projects which identify the most effective ways to intervene early and prevent these crimes from being committed in the first place, which will protect those most vulnerable to abuse.
From the £17.8 million, up to £7.4 million will be invested over 3 years to programmes which prioritise early intervention and research into the most effective ways of preventing abuse.
This will work to establish how to prevent violence against women and girls, marking a commitment in the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy.
This includes projects ranging from improving awareness of VAWG, through preventative work with young people to researching possible connections between increased use of online sites and sexual exploitation. Projects include Changing Lives, who will use the funding to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation online, and Surrey PCC, who will develop a public campaign to increase younger people’s understanding of stereotyping, misogyny, sexism and sexual offences to enable them to challenge violence against women and girls.
This funding is part of the government’s commitment to tackle violence against women and girls.
In March last year, we published the cross-government Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, which invests over £230 million in tackling these heinous crimes. This includes over £140 million for supporting victims and over £81 million for tackling perpetrators. The plan will transform the whole of society’s response in order to prevent offending, support victims and pursue perpetrators, as well as to strengthen the systems and processes in place needed to deliver these goals.
The Home Office also launched the ground-breaking, long-term behavioural change ‘Enough’ campaign. The campaign aims to provide bystanders with a range of safe ways to intervene if they witness an incident of violence against women and girls, ranging from sexual harassment on the street, public transport or at work, to unwanted touching, sharing intimate images of someone without their consent and coercive control in a relationship.
