In the UK cuts to services preventing abuse of women and girls ‘are actually sending us backwards.’

The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Rashida Manjoo, is starting her first ever official visit to the UK this week, to assess the UK’s performance in tackling and preventing abuse of women and girls.

She is to study the main manifestations of violence perpetrated in the family and in the community, such as domestic and sexual violence, sexual bullying and harassment, forced and early marriages, and female genital mutilation.

She will also look at violence that is perpetrated or condoned by State authorities, and violence encountered by women facing new vulnerabilities due to the increased influx of immigrant women, asylum seekers and refugees.

“Violence against women continues to be one of the most pervasive human rights violations globally, affecting every country in the world,” she said.

“During my mission I will meet with individuals and organisations involved in fighting all aspects related to violence against women, its causes and consequences with a view to assessing the phenomenon in the country.”

Manjoo’s comes at the invitation of the UK government, and her mission is to investigate the prevalence of violence against women and girls in the UK and what is being done to tackle it.

At the end of her visit, on 15 April, she will give a press conference in London and make recommendations to the UK government.

The EVAW Coalition’s many expert members and frontline service providers have prepared an authoritative 80-page dossier for Manjoo in advance of her visit documenting the key issues they hope she will assess during her visit.

In the UK:

In 2012, around 1.2 million women in the UK suffered domestic abuse; domestic violence accounts for 10 per cent of emergency calls;

In 2012, 85,000 women in the UK were raped and over 400,000 women were sexually assaulted;

In 2013, the UK government’s Forced Marriage Unit dealt with more than 1,300 cases, more than 80 per cent of which were female victims;

At least 66,000 women in England and Wales have been subject to female genital mutilation;

Sexual bullying and harassment are routine in UK schools; almost one in three 16-18 year-old girls have experienced ‘groping’ or other unwanted sexual touching at school.

The dossier compiled by EVAW Coaliton members highlights that:

Specialist women’s services all over the country, including refuges, helplines, black and ethnic minority women’s services, are being hit hard by the so-called ‘austerity’ cuts and questionable tendering and commissioning regimes used by local councils and others

Asylum seeking women arriving in the UK face an asylum decision-making system which routinely disbelieves their accounts of gender based violence, and are also routinely detained in a manner which contravenes the UK’s human rights obligations

Legal aid cuts are making it more difficult for women to have access to legal advice and representation when they are at risk from an abusive partner

In our schools we are failing to take the necessary steps to challenge the attitudes that excuse and condone abuse of women from an early age; such preventative work with young people is recommended by every expert in this field. This is despite excellent Home Office work targeting young people with messages about consent and respect in the ‘thisisabuse’ campaign.

Liz McKean, co-director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said: “The UK has a lot to be proud of in progress in this area.

“Our national action plan on violence against women and girls recognises the gendered nature of abuse and the many forms it can take as well as having targets for addressing it.

“Individual agencies like the CPS stand out for their progressive, determined and creative ways of improving access to justice for women and girls who are abused. The ring-fenced direct funding of rape support services is very welcome.

“But, our submission to Ms Manjoo shows that while there has been progress in the UK, there are many critical areas where the UK is failing.

These include the decimation of women’s specialist support services at the local level, and legal aid cuts.

“The way the UK treats asylum-seeking women is shameful and we are hardly anywhere on actually aiming to prevent abuse in the long-term by working with young people.

“To some extent you could say there is a disconnect opening up between what the UK promises and delivers on the international stage and what is happening here at home.

“The UK should be proud of the work William Hague is doing to tackle rape in conflict, and the Department for International Development is also putting abuse of women and girls at the heart of its programmes.

“But at home the work is piecemeal and cuts to services are actually sending us backwards.”