Violence against women and girls should be seen for the public health emergency that it is, writes Kiran Dhami of the Women’s Resource Centre
Your article (UK charities warn of ‘devastating’ council cuts to women’s services, 18 February) quotes the CEO of the Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (Crasac) saying: “So we’ve just had to close the waiting list because [of] the knock-on effect of this [funding cut], as well as austerity. It’s not safe for clients or our staff any more.” It then goes on to report: “The council said in a statement that it was not cutting the service, but had decided not to renew its contract with Crasac because it was ‘not addressing increasing waiting lists’.”
The absurdity of the situation is plain when councils cite a lack of capacity to deliver a service as the reason for cutting funding, when their funding cuts are the reason for the service cuts in the first place. Women’s organisations were creaking under the pressure of increasing demand even before the pandemic, but it has got so much worse since. Refuges and rape crisis centres are lifesaving, not optional extras. We are calling for violence against women and girls to be seen as the public health emergency that it is in our Speaking Up for Women campaign. Maybe then, it will become the priority that it desperately needs to be, with the money to help tackle it, too.
Kiran Dhami
Head of policy, Women’s Resource Centre
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