Domestic abuse charities and centres dealing with sexual violence say council budget cuts will have a devastating impact on support for women, warning that entire services will have to close as local authorities strip back to basics.
Charities said that most aspects of the services were non-statutory, meaning councils do not have a legal obligation to keep funding them and are likely to cut them as they try to balance their budgets amid a nationwide funding crisis.
“Violence against women services are really among those most at risk,” said Mary-Ann Stephenson of the Women’s Budget Group. “As local authorities are cutting to the bone, there is basically nothing left to cut, so everything that is non-statutory is going.”