Please see below the October information round up from the East Sussex DA SVA and VAWG Team, which contains latest news from the sector, policy and legislative updates, funding opportunities, research and resources, local service information and job opportunities.
16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence: 25th November – 10th December
November sees the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign. Every year from 25th November to 10th December, the international campaign aims to raise awareness of violence against women and girls. This year’s theme is “UNITE! Activism to end violence against women and girls.” The East Sussex DSVA and VAWG Team will be compiling a programme of events, which will be included in the November round up. If your organisation is planning events, email Eleanor.Marsh@eastsussex.gov.uk with the details to be included in the programme.
HERSANA is a national and the leading support service in Sussex for Black women and girls [femmes*] who have experienced gender-based violence. HERSANA are currently undergoing a rebrand and will be launching their brand-new website in honour of Black History Month this month. For more enquiries regarding their support offers, please email info@hersana.org or visit their brand-new website for referrals, information and resources.
The East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership (ESSCP) has developed a range of Learning Briefings following recent Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews (LCSPR). One LCSPR from 2021, involving a child’s allegations of sexual abuse in the family home, identified various learning points including continued communication with the child, the importance of multi-agency meetings, improving the quality of interviews with children, and building more effective relationships with the family. Read the Learning Briefing, including the action taken since the review, here.
The ESSCP also recently published a Thematic Review in response to two serious safeguarding incidents with similar themes of domestic abuse, poor parental and child mental health, substance misuse, and sporadic engagement with services over a considerable period of time. Key learning points include consideration of parents’ vulnerabilities, working with hard to engage families, the impact on children of reoccurring domestic abuse and parental mental health issues, and vulnerable children approaching adulthood. Read the Learning briefing here.
Women’s Aid have recently published two new reports on support for and attitudes to domestic abuse:
The Vision Foundation, in partnership with SafeLives, recently published the UK’s first research into the scale and nature of domestic abuse among blind and partially sighted people. Read The Unseen: Blind and partially sighted people’s experiences of domestic abuse here.
Surviving Economic Abuse and Southall Black Sisters have produced this guide for people who have experienced domestic abuse in the UK and have ‘no recourse to public funds.’
The Chartered Institute of Housing’s new President, Lara Oyedele, has launched a new campaign to increase racial diversity in the housing sector. Read the ‘In My Shoes’ blog here.
University College London publishes a monthly newsletter sharing the latest updates, news and publications about gender-based violence and the internet. You can sign up to receive the newsletter here.
The Office of the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner has an open survey asking for users’ experiences of the Safe Space Sussex app. This free app is aimed at helping direct people to a designated ‘Safe Space’ should they feel unsafe when in public. Download the app via the Apple app store or Google Play.
Home Office VAWG Support and Specialist Service Fund
The Home Office has jointly announced, with the Ministry of Justice, the launch a consolidated Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Support and Specialist Service Fund. Up to £8,459,000 will be available to ‘by and for’ and specialist services over two years, with ringfenced funding of £1.5 million specifically for ‘by and for’ organisations. The fund will build on the work set out by the government in their Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan.
If you are interested in applying for funding locally and want to know more, email Eleanor.Marsh@eastsussex.gov.uk
Grant funding schemes to support groups of women in the criminal justice system
The Ministry of Justice has launched three grant funding competitions worth £24 million, aimed at improving the services available for women with multiple and complex needs who are in the criminal justice system, or at risk of entering it. Councils are eligible to bid for one of the funds, which is aimed at improving the local integration of women’s services. The other two funds are targeting the core costs of women’s community sector organisations, and new services or interventions targeting this cohort of women. These are aimed at third sector’s women’s services, but councils may wish to support applications in their areas. All of the competitions are available on the Ministry of Justice’s Bravo portal, numbered ITT_6488, ITT_6494 and ITT_6495 respectively. Councils can also raise any questions via the portal.
HERSANA worked last month with Sussex Police in delivering their specialist Harmful Practices training consisting of FGM and Breast Flattening, Forced Marriage and Honour Based Abuse, as well as Spiritual Abuse and Witchcraft. HERSANA continues to provide accredited and tailored trainings, workshops, and awareness campaigns to a wide range of statutory professionals, young people, and community groups. For enquiries regarding training packages, email training@hersana.org.
BBC News reported on the impact of the cost of living crisis on domestic abuse charities in the South East. Services in Surrey, Kent and West Sussex all shared the challenges of increasing energy bills, fewer donations and difficulties recruiting volunteers. Read the article here.
At the Office for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Human Dimension Conference, the UK delegation warned of increasing numbers of reports of gender-based violence in the war in Ukraine. Read the full speech here.
The United Nations has recently reported on the impact of climate change on women and girls, finding that increased climate change increases the threat of gender-based violence. Read the report here.
Can I Tell You a Secret? – a new investigative podcast series about a serial cyberstalker in the UK, who earlier this year was jailed for nine years, one of the longest sentences for stalking offences. Listen to the podcast here.
Veritas Justice is currently recruiting for the following roles:
Stalking Advocacy Caseworker: Full-time 37.5 hours per week. Monday to Friday 9:00am-5:30pm. Salary: £23,500 plus pension. Central Brighton.
Fundraising and Communications Officer: Part-time 20 hours per week. Flexible hours to be agreed. Office hours: Monday to Friday 9:00am-5:30pm. Salary: £27,000 plus pension. Central Brighton.
Volunteer and Partnership Coordinator: Part-time 20 hours per week. Flexible hours to be agreed. Office hours: Monday to Friday 9:00am-5:30pm. Salary: £23,500 plus pension. Central Brighton.
HERSANA is currently recruiting a Therapy Coordinator to deliver and design healing spaces with Black femme survivors of gender-based violence and abuse in Sussex. The application deadline is Friday 11th November 2022. Email recruitment@hersana.org if you have any questions about the role or application process.
