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Badges for a campaign to save domestic abuse services
Badges for a campaign to save domestic abuse services: EVAW says many centres are struggling for funds. Photograph: Jim Wileman
Badges for a campaign to save domestic abuse services: EVAW says many centres are struggling for funds. Photograph: Jim Wileman

Government ‘still failing to protect women against violent men’

This article is more than 8 years old

End Violence Against Women coalition says male abuse of women and girls is still going unchecked as services struggle

Women and girls are still not being protected from violent men because of “critical frontline failings”, according to an evaluation of the past 10 years of government action on the issue. A coalition of campaigning groups claims that, despite a focus on reducing domestic violence and increased awareness of child sexual abuse, male violence “still goes unchecked”.

The report covers the period since a 2005 review into blunders surrounding the case of Ian Huntley, who went on to murder schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. The End Violence Against Women (EVAW) coalition finds that services for abuse victims are struggling to remain open, and it also criticises the government’s refusal to make sex and relationship education compulsory in schools.

The children’s commissioner said last week that potentially 225,000 children a year are sexually abused but only one in eight cases is reported to the authorities. Campaigners say this shows that the current practice of waiting for children to disclose abuse is wrong.

Liz Kelly, co-chair of EVAW, said: “Education policies are failing to protect girls from abuse now, and are not working towards the prevention of future abuse.”

The report does allow that progress has been made over the decade, such as the Crown Prosecution Service’s attempts to improve justice for rape victims. However, it says it is disappointed that last week’s spending review made commitments to some support for domestic violence services but not for rape crisis centres.

Campaigners say the fact that more than a hundred women a year in England and Wales are still killed by a current or former partner is evidence that practices can be improved.Last week Tomasz Kocik, 38, was jailed for a minimum of 18 years after being convicted of murdering Marta Ligman, 23, and dumping her body in a north London canal in a suitcase. Prosecutor Tim Cray told jurors Ligman’s colleagues described Kocik as an “obsessively jealous controlling boyfriend” who was violent towards her. Kocik said he hit her during sex and called her a “whore”.

Marai Larasi, who is also director of Imkaan, the national network of black and ethnic minority (BME) women’s support organisations and added: “If, as a society, we really cared about the survivors of abuse, we would ensure there were enough support services in our communities that they could seek support at any time. This is not happening and these services are now precarious.”

A government spokesperson said: “The government has made protecting women and girls from violence and supporting victims a priority, and that is why the Chancellor announced funding of £40m over the next four years to support victims of domestic violence, including refuge provision.

“We continue to work with local authorities, the NHS and police and crime commissioners to ensure a secure future for specialist FGM [femal genital mutilation] and forced marriage units, refuges and rape support centres and are committed to publishing a refreshed strategy shortly, which will set out how we will provide the fullest protection for victims.”

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