PCCs Making A Difference - VAWG IN FOCUS
Dame Vera Baird QC, Northumbria PCC and APCC Victims Lead:
"With crimes against women and girls continuing to make up a fifth of the Crown Prosecution Service’s case load and the latest Femicide Census showing that, during 2017, 139 women in the UK died as a result of male violence, it is more important than ever that Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) continue to work with partner organisations to help end violence against women and girls (VAWG).
"VAWG funding from the Government started in 2016. A key part of this involved the launch by the Home Office of the VAWG Transformation Fund, which offered £17m to be used for new local services to tackle VAWG. Of the 41 successful bids, 15 were from Police and Crime Commissioners seeking additional funds to improve services for victims and survivors in their respective areas.
"Please take some time to look at this PCC VAWG In Focus document and find out how I and my fellow PCC colleagues, are bringing about real change in the ways in which violence against women and girls is being addressed in our local communities.
"The innovative projects highlighted in this document that are making a real difference to the lives of women and girls affected by violence include:
- Diversion Support Workers, recruited to work within a Northumbria community Rehabilitation company, with women offenders who are eligible to trial a new women-specific cautioning scheme.
- Trauma-focused Cognitive Behaviour Therapeutic Support for young people in Cambridgeshire.
- Domestic Violence Protection Orders in West Yorkshire, to allow victims ‘breathing space’ from perpetrators.
- A three-year project with Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to transform the support sexual violence victims are offered when they present at hospital.
- Tackling the abuse of people with learning difficulties and mental health issues in Avon and Somerset.
- Improving multi-agency outreach work to Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) communities across Thames Valley which involves no less than 18 local authorities working together."
Read our PCC Making A Difference – VAWG In Focus.