On 26 February 2025, the Home Affairs Committee launched an inquiry to examine the funding of services aimed at addressing violence against women and girls (VAWG).
The United Nations defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.
The Home Affairs Committee will want to understand how VAWG services are funded, what is working and what is not. Later this year, the government will introduce a VAWG strategy.
Although VAWG may be seen as a “criminal law issue”, the Family Justice System plays a crucial role in both responding to and preventing VAWG. The government has pledged to halve VAWG in the next decade. In her inaugural address earlier this year, Chair of the Bar Council, Barbara Mills KC, said that “an effective and properly funded family court system should be front and centre of hitting that target.”
The role of the family justice system
The family court has a range of powers to address VAWG, including:
- Injunctive relief: Non-molestation orders, occupation orders, Forced Marriage Protection orders, and FGM prevention orders.
- Private law children proceedings: Orders regulating where and with whom a child should live, ensuring arrangements are safe and do not expose children and their parents to harm.
- Public law children proceedings: Initiated by local authorities to protect children who have suffered or are at risk of significant harm.
- Financial remedy/divorce proceedings: Providing sufficient financial support for women and children post-separation to prevent economic abuse.
Despite significant legislative reforms, adequate funding for the family justice system is crucial to protecting women and girls from harm. Key areas of concern include:
- Access to legal advice: Often economic abuse is an aspect of VAWG encountered in families, which may mean that women are unable to pay for their legal representation or that their resources are limited (and may be exhausted by their former partner, the alleged perpetrator, through family court proceedings, as returned below). Legal aid may be available for domestic abuse victims, but rates have not increased since 1996, making family legal aid a loss-making service for many legal aid providers. This has resulted in legal aid ‘deserts' where accessing legal advice is nearly impossible.
- Delays in the family court: The family courts face significant delays. The Ministry of Justice reported that the average length of private law proceedings between July and September 2024 was 41 weeks. Many private law proceedings involving domestic abuse allegations remain at an ‘interim' stage, causing uncertainty and trauma for victims as the court makes interim decisions about a child's welfare and safety. The adversarial nature of private law proceedings was identified by the 2020 Harm Report as problematic and suggested that an investigative approach was required. The Family Justice System needs to be adequately resourced to deal with domestic abuse allegations – legislative and procedural reforms will not be effective unless there are enough judges, with sufficient time and expertise, to hear the cases and carefully consider the risks to children.
- Local authority funding: Local authorities have a statutory obligation to respond to VAWG. They may need to provide services to families, investigate whether a child is at risk, or initiate public law proceedings for a child's protection. However, local authorities are chronically underfunded. The Local Government Association reported that English councils face a £2.3 billion funding gap in 2025/26, rising to £3.9 billion in 2026/27. It is undoubtedly the case that local authorities have to make difficult decisions about the provision of services for the protection of women and girls. Ensuring coordinated responses to VAWG, when local authorities are themselves subject to significant financial pressure, represents an additional complicating factor.
These are just a few examples of the funding issues which victims and survivors of VAWG may encounter in accessing protection from violence in the family court.
Imkaan's 2019 report, ‘The Value of Intersectionality in Understanding Violence Against Women and Girls,' highlighted the importance of considering how gender intersects with other inequalities and oppression to create unique experiences of violence. An intersectional lens is essential to ensure all women and girls receive protection through the family courts and to identify areas where funding gaps are most acutely felt.
The Family Justice System needs to be adequately resourced to deal with domestic abuse allegations – legislative and procedural reforms will not be effective unless there are enough judges, with sufficient time and expertise, to hear the cases and carefully consider the risks for children.
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