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Home secretary commits to ending violence against women
16th July 2010
The government’s ambition to end violence against women and girls was laid out by the Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities today.
Theresa May told the audience at the annual Women’s Aid Conference, in her first speech on this issue, that violence against women would be a priority for the government and committed to:
- continuing, to the end of this financial year, the pilot scheme which helps victims of domestic violence who have no recourse to public funds because of their immigration status – and committed to finding a long-term solution to ensure victims are protected after that. The scheme provides support to victims in the UK on a spouse or partner visa who have been forced to flee the family home because of domestic violence;
- reversing the decline in rape crisis centres by considering how to use the proceeds from the Victim Surcharge to deliver up to 15 new rape crisis centres, and give existing rape crisis centres stable, long-term funding; and
- responding in full to Baroness Stern’s independent review into the handling of rape complaints as part of the government’s work to tackle rape.
Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities Theresa May said:
“As both Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities I believe I have a unique opportunity to bring about real change to the lives and the status of women in this country and my ambition is nothing less than ending violence against women and girls.
“I am under no illusion though; this will take time and effort. In these tough economic times, while Government has a clear role to play, it’s vital that we all work together and with a more considered, targeted and sensible approach I believe we will achieve real results.
“Today I can confirm our commitment to continue funding the "no recourse to public funds" scheme and to more long-term, stable funding for rape crisis centres to support the many women who experience abuse. As well as this we will work towards providing real solutions to prevent violence against women from happening in the first place.”
Next week the Home Office will host a cross-government ministerial violence against women meeting to discuss a new approach to tackling this issue.
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