Violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence

Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) is a major public health problem, a criminal justice issue, and a violation of human rights. It causes harm to individuals and families, and its impact can be felt across whole communities, societies, and economies and can impact on victims in many ways. For example, sexual violence can lead to a multitude of health consequences including physical, reproductive, and psychological harm.

The Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015, together with the statutory guidance on commissioning sets the conditions and expectations for service developments in Wales, with progress reported annually.

VAWDASV includes domestic abuse, sexual violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), ‘honour-based violence’, sexual exploitation, trafficking and child sexual abuse. This can happen in any relationship regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, income, geography or lifestyle (Welsh Government, 2016).

• Data shows that there were 376 domestic abuse offences a year in Pembrokeshire (225 towards females, 151 towards males), 248 in Ceredigion (187 towards females, 61 towards males), and 45 in Carmarthenshire (35 towards females, 10 towards males).

• Data shows that there were 289 psychological abuse offences in Ceredigion (203 towards females, 86 towards males), 260 in Carmarthenshire (163 towards women, 97 towards males), and 238 in Pembrokeshire (160 towards females, 78 towards males).

• Data shows that there were 218 financial abuse cases in Carmarthenshire (131 towards females, 87 towards males), 171 in Ceredigion (99 towards females, 72 towards males), and 107 in Pembrokeshire (70 towards females, 37 towards males).

• Data shows that there were 361 cases of neglect towards adults in Carmarthenshire (249 towards those aged 65 and over, 112 to adults 18-64), 283 in Ceredigion (192 towards those aged 65 and over, 91 to adults 18-64), and 194 in Pembrokeshire, (150 towards those aged 65 and over, 44 to adults 18-64).

• Data shows that there were 327 physical abuse cases in Carmarthenshire (204 towards females, 123 towards males), 260 in Ceredigion (165 towards females, 95 towards males), and 126 in Pembrokeshire (75 towards females, 51 towards males).

• Data shows that there were two reported alleged offences of racial abuse towards adults in Carmarthenshire, and one in Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire.

• There is a lack of understanding amongst professionals of the nature, effects and long-term consequences of Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence, leading to reduced confidence in professional contacts
• Both recognition and concern over the preventative and pastoral role of education in dealing with issues of Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence
• The lack of consistency and availability of safe interventions across the region aimed at holding perpetrators to account and providing opportunities to change behaviours
• The lack of specialist provision for children and young people who are experiencing Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence
• The persistent challenge to prioritise and resource early intervention and prevention
• Inconsistency of commissioning practices and sustainability of funding
• Complexity of current referral pathways resulting in confusion, response “overload” and duplication of services
• The lack of coordinated approaches to service provision and the need for an integrated referral pathway into services
• Lack of awareness amongst individuals experiencing Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence, their friends, families and professionals of what services are available and how to access information and support
• The inconsistency of service availability across the region leading to a “postcode lottery” of provision
• The lack of “whole family” approaches across the region
• The critical role of leadership and accountability for Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence across the region
• Recognition that what seem like opposing views are often a product of parties with a variety of roles seeing things through a different lens; a need to utilise and harness these ‘differences’ to work creatively and collaboratively cross sector in a solution focussed manner to best meet individual and family needs
• The need to maintain and sustain equal and respectful partnerships with professionals who are experts in their field, in particular agencies in the third sector who have a wealth of specialist knowledge, strategic expertise and operational skills
• The value of involving partners at an early stage and to work in partnership with service providers to co-produce the regional approach to addressing gaps in provision, avoiding duplication and maximising resources

Development of an integrated outcomes framework agreed by all commissioners to ensure consistent, meaningful, and comparative reporting.

• Adopting commissioning models that allow for flexibility and development to meet changing needs rather than prescriptive funding that limits creativity / innovation and results in services that are restricted in the services they can provide.
• Providing stability to the sector in terms of the duration of the contract(s) and funding for the lifetime of the contract for Domestic Abuse, Sexual Violence and Violence against Women services.
• Development of a service model whereby any eligibility criteria associated with accessing service provision is based solely on a need to access rather than a level of risk, complexity, or the availability of services.

The following gaps and areas for improvement have been identified as being required:

• Adopt commissioning models that allow for flexibility and development to meet changing needs rather than prescriptive funding that limits creativity / innovation and results in services that are restricted in the services they can provide

• Development of a service model whereby any eligibility criteria associated with accessing service provision is based solely on a need to access rather than a level of risk, complexity, or the availability of services

• Involvement of survivors as integral to the commissioning process

• The need for increased regional collaboration across the public and third sector to identify and secure additional resources

• Recognition of the diversity of communities across Mid and West Wales and the importance of equality and diversity to be integral to commissioning of services

• The challenges of rurality to be recognised when commissioning services –acknowledgement of the true cost of delivering services in rural areas

• The need for equitable investment of resources across the region

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021, a rapidly emerging literature suggests that levels of VAWDASV have been impacted by the COVID-19 public health restrictions, including lockdown, shielding and social distancing regulations (Snowdon et al., 2020). Whilst the full picture of how the pandemic has impacted on VAWDASV is still to fully emerge, it appears likely that both the scale and nature of VAWDASV may have worsened, with rising 55 Wales Violence Prevention Unit VAWDASV Systematic Evidence Assessment helpline contacts for all forms of VAWDASV and increased reports to emergency services in some areas for domestic abuse (Hohl and Johnson, 2020).

Calls to helplines have increased fivefold in some countries as rates of reported IPV have increased because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is referred to as the shadow pandemic, as COVID-19 continues to strain health services, and violence is exacerbated in the home, essential services such as domestic violence shelters and helplines have reached capacity (United Nations, 2021).

Many prevention strategies and programming have been put on hold or been forced to adapt during the pandemic because of restrictions on movement, face to face interactions and public events. However, given the increasing number of reports of VAWDASV during the COVID-19 crisis, it is more important than ever to promote prevention through the transformation of norms, attitudes and stereotypes that accept and normalise violence. Also, while traditional avenues of prevention, such as face to face interactions are limited, new opportunities have emerged, multiple forms of media, online communications and many community mobilisation programmes involve delivering activities virtually (UN General Assembly, 2020), a number of interventions included in this report utilise online platforms (Real Consent and mHealth screening tools); these interventions may have particular relevance where face to face interactions may be limited.

COVID-19 has further exposed VAWDASV as a global emergency requiring urgent action. The pandemic has exposed the failure of efforts to prevent and respond to violence but also the deeply entrenched and systemic nature of VAWDASV.

As the pandemic continues, growing economic and social stress has an impact on everyone, but particularly women who often bear the additional burden of caring responsibilities, are more likely to hold insecure employment, in addition to being at increased risk of violence victimisation in the home. At the same time, restrictions on movement and social isolation measures increase women’s vulnerability to violence and since lockdown measures were introduced, restricted access to support services, friends and family reduce survivors' access to support thus increasing the risk of harm (UN General Assembly, 2020).