The Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy published today marks a significant step toward realising the government’s ambitious goal to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. We particularly welcome the commitment to a whole-of-government approach, the strength of the government’s commitment to tackling the evidence gap across domestic abuse – particularly on identifying what works for children and young people – as well as the additional investment for supporting victim-survivors.
As mentioned in the strategy, Foundations will be undertaking two full-scale evaluations, including randomised controlled trials (RCTs), of support services for child victims that we initially piloted over the last year, and which showed promising findings. In talking about measures to tackle child sexual abuse, it also highlights two new upcoming Practice Guides, which will be produced by Foundations, and will provide commissioners and practitioners with the tools to implement what works evidence to tackle this issue.
Finding what works to support children
The strategy rightly acknowledges the urgent need to prioritise support for child victim-survivors, alongside prevention and tackling perpetrators. One in five children in the UK are affected by domestic abuse, with potentially long-lasting effects on their mental and physical health and ability to build healthy relationships. Domestic abuse is consistently among the most common reasons for referrals to children’s social care and is a factor in over half of Serious Case Reviews. Despite this, we know that less than a third of victim survivors who want support for their children can access it.
The recognition that addressing the needs of child victims must be a priority is welcome, alongside the pledge to increase funding year-on-year to support victim-survivors in their recovery.
We know that there is currently an unacceptable evidence gap about how best to support victim-survivors and that robust impact evaluation is limited. Today’s strategy makes clear that the government are determined to close this gap, and to find what works will help to strengthen services and identify support that makes a positive difference to the recovery of babies, children, and young people.
The strategy acknowledges the progress made by the sector, evaluators and organisations like Foundations in understanding the positive impacts of recovery services on supporting children and non-perpetrator parents.
It’s vital that, going forward, new funding is invested in both delivery and evaluation so that services can demonstrate the impact of their work with children and families, and local leaders can make evidence-based decisions about support.
Prevention
Our ambition is for children and young people affected by domestic abuse to be able to access evidence-based support at whatever stage it is needed, from early intervention to recovery. The priority that the strategy gives to prevention is welcome, and we must ensure we don’t lose sight of the potential role of recovery services in preventing inter-generational cycles of abuse and addressing the long-term impacts on child victims.
Workforce
Commitments to improve the children and families workforce as part of the Families First Partnership programme are necessary and welcome. This presents a real opportunity to build up the confidence of practitioners involved in family support and early help, and better equip them with the skills and knowledge to take an evidence-based approach to working with the whole family in cases involving domestic abuse. We must ensure that workforce development programmes are robustly evaluated and provide the right tools for those supporting children and families experiencing domestic abuse.
Commissioning and collaboration
We are pleased to see the commitment to reforming how services are commissioned so that provision is fit for purpose and based on what victims and survivors actually need. It’s crucial there is clarity for local practitioners and support for joined-up commissioning based on the strongest evidence, in order to facilitate the collaboration needed to achieve the aims of the strategy.
The strategy also emphasises that cross-government working and a whole-government approach is essential to make a reality of its pledges. The role of the Department for Education, Department for Health and Social Care, and Ministry of Justice will be critical to deliver the focus on ensuring no child has their future determined by being a victim by finding and delivering what works to increase evidence-based support for them.
Implementation
The VAWG strategy takes a big step towards putting the conditions in place for effective support for children and families experiencing domestic abuse. Most importantly, children appear front and centre.
It also lays the ground for more evidence-based support for children and families; better cross-government working; informed commissioners; and a well-equipped workforce. As the national What Works Centre for Children & Families, we look forward to working in partnership with services, survivors, and the Government to make the ambitions of the VAWG strategy a reality.
Commenting on the publication of today’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, Foundations’ Chief Executive, Dr Jo Casebourne, said:
“It is hugely encouraging that today’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy has a real focus on finding out what works for children, and prioritises support for victims to recover from abuse.
“The government’s drive to tackle the current evidence gap in domestic abuse, which we have been highlighting and working to help close, is a welcome step forward. As the strategy highlights, through our ongoing work to find what works for children affected by domestic abuse, Foundations are launching full-scale evaluations of support services for child victims, and producing two new Practice Guides to support commissioners and practitioners to tackle child sexual abuse.
“The £550m funding pledge for timely support for victim-survivors signals the urgency of supporting those affected by domestic abuse. We want to get to a place where all victim-survivors can receive evidence-based support that makes a real difference to their outcomes and strengthens hard-pressed domestic abuse services. Reforms to commissioning present an opportunity to ensure that services are more joined-up and underpinned by what works, while investment in support for the children and families workforce should focus on building practitioners’ confidence, knowledge and skills in using evidence-based approaches to spot and respond to domestic abuse.
“While this is just the beginning of this mission, the strategy marks significant progress towards the government’s ambitious goal to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. As the national What Works Centre for Children & Families, we look forward to working in partnership with services, survivors, and the Government to make its ambitions a reality.”