More cash to ensure women can stay safe

Women and children experiencing or at risk of violence and domestic abuse will have increased access to support, with £4.25 million of additional funding for charities and projects across Scotland.
Concerns have been raised over the increase in the number of cases of domestic abuse reported during lockdown.Concerns have been raised over the increase in the number of cases of domestic abuse reported during lockdown.
Concerns have been raised over the increase in the number of cases of domestic abuse reported during lockdown.

The additional investment will help respond to an increase in demand from victims of abuse for support services during the coronavirus pandemic.

More staff, increased hours for centres and helplines, improvements to IT and new digital resources and training will all allow services to be up-scaled so that more people can quickly and easily access help.

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Updated guidance, developed in partnership with COSLA, is also already being used by local authorities to keep women and children safe.

Equalities Minister Christina McKelvie said: “The risks to women and children of domestic abuse with referrals to frontline services increasing during the pandemic is a major concern, but we are focused on ensuring that services can meet the increased demand for support.

“This extra funding will help to ensure these vital services are still able to provide support, and the scale and innovation of these projects will provide a lifeline to many women and families.

“Any kind of violence is unacceptable and the safety and wellbeing needs of women and children have to be protected - that is even more important during a pandemic. Police Scotland continue to prioritise domestic abuse cases so I would also encourage anyone suffering abuse not to hesitate to get the support they need.”

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Dr Marsha Scott, Chief Executive of Scottish Women’s Aid, said: “Our local groups have shown extraordinary resilience and creativity in rapidly redesigning their services to continue supporting those experiencing domestic abuse throughout the pandemic. The challenges they’ve faced have been huge as Covid-19 has given abusers more tools to control and harm women and children.

“This injection of financial support will provide some much-needed stability for groups against a back drop of precarious, patchwork local funding. As lockdown and other measures ease, our local groups are anticipating even more demand for their specialist services as survivors begin to have more opportunities to seek support.”

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