Today the Chancellor delivered his Budget which included funding for tackling homelessness and misogyny but no commitments for domestic abuse services.
Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner said: “The measures announced today to tackle rough sleeping and ease cost-of-living pressures which trap many victims in abuse are desperately needed. But the lack of any meaningful action on domestic abuse – one of the leading causes of homelessness – and only limited funding to address misogyny shows just how low down on the priority list halving violence against women and girls is for this government.
“Every week I hear from domestic abuse services on the frontline of this crisis who are having to reduce services, cut jobs or close entirely because of chronic underfunding. Many are seeing rising demand because of the early release scheme, but the additional funding already allocated barely covers two days of support.
“We cannot meaningfully tackle homelessness and support victims if specialist services cannot keep the lights on. I urge the government to show it remains committed to its pledge to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, by providing specialist domestic abuse services with the long-term funding they need to help victims rebuild their lives away from abuse, now and into the future.”