Local support services for violence against women and girls (VAWG) are experiencing increased pressure due to high volumes of referrals and inadequate funding, study finds.

The current ‘crisis’ caused by overwhelming demand means that refuges must deny 65% of the support requests submitted, whilst community-based services can help only half of those in need, Women’s Aid told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The PAC study confirms at least one in 12 are impacted by VAWG each year, defined in the report as an umbrella term for a range of crimes, including rape, harassment, revenge porn, domestic abuse and honour-based abuses such as forced marriage.

Between 2022 to 2023, one in five crimes reported to the police were linked to VAWG.

However, due to the lack of preventative measures implemented by the Government, alongside fragmented and insufficient short-term funding, local services cannot deliver adequate support for survivors of VAWG and struggle to provide long-term specialist care for those affected, according to the PAC report.

Whilst the Government’s ‘Safer Streets’ mission aims to provide the ‘long-term, sustainable change’ required to tackle VAWG-related crimes, the committee is ‘sceptical’ about the Government’s ability to halve VAWG over the next 10 years.

‘Government needs to do more to prevent perpetrators committing these crimes in the first instance’, the PAC emphasised.

Cllr Tom Hunt, Vice-Chair of the LGA Safer and Stronger Communities Board, said: ‘Councils are determined to tackle violence against women and girls and, alongside key partners, play a key role in providing the essential services that individuals affected by this issue rely on for support.’

‘The upcoming Spending Review is the opportune moment for government to ensure that councils are sufficiently funded to keep their victims and survivors safe, whilst working on prevention’, he added.