Veronica Oakeshott, Head of External Affairs at Women’s Aid, comments:  

“Women’s Aid welcomes the Victim’s and Courts Bill receiving Royal Assent. This legislation makes some important changes that survivors of domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) have long called for.   

“We know from our work with survivors that many women and children have been let down by the complex criminal justice system which, for too long, has failed to recognise and prioritise their needs. This is especially the case for marginalised survivors, who face significant barriers to seeking justice and further prejudice in the systems intended to bring them justice. The failures have been so extensive and the lack of understanding of the complexities are so profound, that less than 1 in 5 women feel able to report their experiences to the police.  

“The government has committed to halving violence against women and girls in the next decade and this Bill is promising significant improvements. We are pleased to see that victims and bereaved families will now have longer to challenge unduly lenient sentences, giving grieving families the opportunity to make decisions without undue pressure. We are also pleased to see that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) will no longer be exploited to cover up criminal conduct.  

“We also welcome new limitations to parental responsibility for perpetrators, though this needs to go further. Parents who perpetrate violence against women and children pose a clear and significant risk of harm to their children in multiple forms. It is a narrow and insufficient approach to treat child sexual offences as the only threshold for restricting parental responsibility. We are looking forward to new laws committed to by the Government in October that remove the presumption of support for parental contact where there is domestic abuse and the child does not want to see a parent, or it is unsafe for them to do so. We know from our years of research on child homicides, that without this change children will continue to die as a result of unsafe contact.  

“Improvements for survivors who are in the justice system or considering reporting to the police, are not just about legislation but also about the resourcing of high-quality specialist services. The specialist organisations that support victims through complex criminal proceedings continue to face a funding crisis. We urge the Government to prioritise work planned to reform commissioning practices, so specialist services receive the funding urgently needed.” 

The post Women’s Aid responds to the Victims’ and Courts Bill receiving Royal Assent appeared first on Women’s Aid.

Women’s Aid Annual Audit 2026: The 2026 edition of Women’s Aid annual publication provides an in-depth picture of the provision, usage and work of domestic abuse services in England during the 2024-25 financial year. The report provides a unique insight into how the domestic abuse sector continues to grow, develop, and adapt, whilst demonstrating  the areas that need to improve. Overall, the evidence demonstrates how specialist domestic abuse services are a life-saving and essential infrastructure, and the national response to violence against women and girls cannot be delivered without a robust and sustainable specialist sector. 

© Women’s Aid, March 2026  

Please cite this report as: 
Women’s Aid. (2026) The Annual Audit 2026, Bristol: Women’s Aid. 

The post The Annual Audit 2026 appeared first on Women’s Aid.

A blog by Farah Nazeer, Women’s Aid CEO

International Women’s Day is always a special event in the Women’s Aid calendar and one that we use as an opportunity for celebration, reflection and of course, looking towards the future. 

These are testing times for so many, with different experiences of constrained resources, political change, the economic environment, and indeed the international context that’s playing out for women at large. The impact of these significant issues on our sector and the women and children we are here for is undeniable, but I wanted to make sure we could still carve some space to recognise what we have achieved together in spite of the many challenges, and our commitment to adapting and persevering to make things better.  

For over half a century, Women’s Aid and its members have been supporting survivors of domestic abuse and working towards creating a society which has no space for misogyny, and which does not tolerate violence against women and girls. Rooted in the feminist movement of the 70s, today, we are a federation of over 180 organisations, supporting women and children as they seek to escape abuse and rebuild their lives. We are a sisterhood and it is by coming together and working together, that we are able to deliver the vital, life-changing support that survivors so desperately need. 

It is a sad reality that women face an unequal amount of challenge and threat – from inequality in the workplace, through to the devastating reality that women are much more likely to be killed by their current or former partners. International Women’s Day is an important opportunity for us to recognise this and to celebrate our sisters, who do so much to help women and children flee. I am grateful to each and every one of them – in our federation and of course, worldwide. 

The scale of the problem we are facing remains devastatingly vast. According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, a third of women over the age of 16 in England and Wales experience domestic abuse. This is an astonishingly high figure, and yet, it is likely to be even higher, given that domestic abuse is a crime that hides in plain sight and one that is historically underreported. 

To add to this already deeply challenging context, services are running within a frankly unsustainable funding environment, often being forced to turn women away who need help. Too many women referred to refuges cannot be accommodated because the space simply does not exist. And that matters because we have all heard the question: “Why doesn’t she just leave?” If anyone is still asking that question, the answer is painfully simple. Too often, when she tries to leave, society does not give her somewhere safe to go. Sustainable funding for the services that support women and children is critical. They are the backbone of response to ending violence against women and children. 

Steps are being made to change the wider reality of violence against women and children and many of them are significant. It feels like we are living at a time of reckoning – we see public bodies reflecting on their failings, committing to learn and change. We have seen a government publish a strategy aimed at reducing VAWG. We are also seeing an increasingly aware society, women who are unafraid, who see bad behaviour and who do not shy away from calling it out whether that be online or in their own lives. 

But the reality is, we cannot make the change that is needed alone. Momentum is gaining and it must be maximised and to do this, we must come together. We now need everyone else to stand with us – we need to see promises being delivered on, we need the pace to increase. Every woman who is killed by a predatory man is someone’s mother, daughter, sister, friend, colleague. They deserve better. 

This momentum must go beyond the women’s sector; we need allies from the public and private sector to make a commitment as well. Ending domestic abuse requires change across society; to shift attitudes and to improve the support available to survivors wherever they look for it. 

This year we’ve been so proud to work with some incredible corporate partners on initiatives that make a genuine difference to the lives of survivors. We’ve created pathways of support for women and children in need, delivered awareness campaigns to improve public understanding of abuse and have used our collective voice to reach new audiences and influence government. 

I hope that 2026 brings opportunity for new innovative collaborations between our sector and our corporate allies. It’s these connections and partnerships that gives us the strength and power needed to truly challenge misogyny and abuse that is deep-rooted in our society. 

My message this International Women’s Day is simple – it is hope and it is unity. We face many challenges, but the feminist movement has faced them ever since it began. We know that we can withstand these pressures, we know that we can achieve remarkable things. Join us – be proactive allies, campaign for change, call out dangerous behaviours and support one another. Together, we are unstoppable.

The post Women’s Aid CEO Farah Nazeer reflects on International Women’s Day appeared first on Women’s Aid.

The post Will you send a message of hope today? appeared first on Women’s Aid.

By Women’s Aid CEO, Farah Nazeer

As with all those who work in the violence against women and girls (VAWG) sector, I first became aware of Gisèle’s story as it broke across international media in 2024, when she waived her right to anonymity and spoke the famous words: ‘shame must change sides’.  

At Women’s Aid, for over 50 years, we have been working with victims and survivors of abuse as they escape their tormentors, rebuild their lives and seek justice. And I can tell you that those words will have meant everything to those women. Sadly, we still live in a society that treats domestic abuse as largely invisible – stereotypes about who is more likely to experience it still prevail, as do the ideas that abuse is only abuse when the repercussions are physically visible. These prejudices follow women as they break free and seek justice, with countless women reporting that they didn’t feel like they were believed by those in the criminal justice system, with others saying that the system was weaponised against them by abusers. Gisèle’s outstanding bravery in choosing an open court represents an enormous step towards eradicating the silence that cloaks the experiences of so many women. And her book, published today, goes even further.  

A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides, published in the UK today, is poignant, searingly honest and brave. Yes, the book speaks to survivors and their experiences, making them feel seen, heard and validated. But it also breaks down the stereotypes around violence against women and children – a vital step if we ever hope to live in a society which no longer tolerates it.  

A heartbreaking example of this runs throughout the book, as Gisèle talks about her and Monsieur Pelicot’s (Monsieur Pelicot is how she addresses him in the book and during court) almost 50 year-long relationship and being seen as the ‘perfect couple’ and acting like ‘teenagers’. From the outside, they were perfect, in love and committed to one another, yet she talks about ‘all the incidents that I now realised were signals I had missed’. We know from our work with survivors just how true this is – abuse is insidious and so often ‘invisible’ to the outside world, yet like a slow poison, it is always there, circulating and destroying the relationship and the love that led to it, piece by piece. Gisèle was there for her husband, as women were expected to be for millennia, time and again supporting him through difficult family dynamics, through career setbacks and even the initial ‘upskirting’ charge, yet the entire time, he was abusing her.  

Gisèle’s book is also incredibly powerful when it comes to describing the impact of trauma on the wider family, as well as on the generations that follow them. She speaks with unerring frankness about the awful abuse that she heard about, and witnessed herself, in Monsieur Pelicot’s family. She describes in visceral detail the abusive relationship between her father-in-law and mother-in-law, Denis and Juliette – something that would be so uncomfortable and unsettling to see for their children, yet sadly still too common and ultimately, no excuse for abuse. She also talks about the impact that Monsieur Pelicot’s abhorrent actions had on her own family and their children. The tragic reality of domestic abuse is that it goes far beyond the abuser and the survivor. It impacts families, it hurts children, who become victims in their own right, and it continues to feed into misogynistic and sexist attitudes that still plague our society. If we stand a chance of ending the epidemic of VAWG, much of the work must be centred around children and young people – they must be supported, they must be taught and they must understand what is and isn’t acceptable when it comes to healthy relationships. Respect and consent are cornerstones of any loving relationship – without this knowledge, we are just going to continue the cycles of abuse that we have born witness to.  

In addition to the many lessons Gisèle’s book teaches us about the nature of abuse, the impact it has and the questions that survivors are left to grapple with, it also left me with an overwhelming sense of hope. ‘I heard joy and anger prevailing over silence, and I am more than happy to offer my experience as an example and my name as a battle flag’ are Gisèle’s words in the final chapter. She has become the face and voice of resistance, bravery and hope. She has challenged abusers, she has held them to account and, as a result, has kept countless other women safe from their predation.  

Gisèle is a survivor and an ally, and if there is anything I learnt from my years of working in VAWG and leading Women’s Aid, is that we need each other. We are a sisterhood and together, we are unbeatable. We will come together for as long as we need to, until every sister, daughter, friend, colleague is safe. And as we do, we will turn to women like Gisèle – survivors who advocate and campaign, who face the unthinkable and rise up stronger. And above all, who never lose hope.

The post A thank you note to Gisèle Pelicot: from Women’s Aid and survivors everywhere appeared first on Women’s Aid.

The post Impact report 24-25 appeared first on Women’s Aid.

The post What works to prevent violence against women & girls? appeared first on Women’s Aid.

The post Independent Evaluation of the Expect Respect Programme appeared first on Women’s Aid.

Isabelle Younane, head of external affairs at Women’s Aid, comments:  

“Today’s news that serial rapist and former police officer, David Carrick, has also been found guilty of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl and a former partner, as well as coercive and controlling behaviour, will further damage the trust and confidence that women have in policing.  

“We know from our work with survivors, that women experiencing violence and abuse from a police perpetrator are that much more reluctant to come forward – more must be done to ensure that these crimes are investigated properly and perpetrators are held to account, if this trust is to ever be rebuilt.  

“We urgently need comprehensive changes to vetting, recruitment, misconduct and standards processes within forces to have confidence that they are tackling police perpetrators effectively. We also need the government to hold forces accountable for delivering the urgent reforms to vetting and recruitment called for within the Angiolini Inquiry to ensure that survivors can trust the culture and integrity of policing”. 

The post Women’s Aid responds to ex-Met officer being found guilty of more sex offences appeared first on Women’s Aid.