NAVCA Circulation magazine (need to be a member to view) - December 2007/January 2008

The Women’s Resource Centre has moved into the second phase of its 'Why women?' campaign. Kiran Dhami reports.

Women’s Resource Centre (WRC) has moved into the second phase of its 'why women?' campaign with the launch of its new report entitled Why women-only? The value and benefits of by women, for women services. The report aims to answer the question asked increasingly of many women’s organisations by funders and the public: 'Why are you women-only?'

This timely report sets out why women-only services are still relevant and much in demand, despite a common misconception that they are no longer needed because women’s equality has been achieved. The current political climate of gender neutrality is having a devastating impact on women’s voluntary organisations. Increasingly, they are being asked to justify their women-only status to decision makers and funders, and in certain cases are being expected to provide services to men. This was the main impetus for examining why women-only services are still relevant and necessary.

Providing space
Women-only services provide a space in which women feel more comfortable about articulating their needs, as well as delivering better outcomes than mixed spaces. Women can discuss personal and sometimes traumatic experiences in a supportive environment, such as domestic and sexual abuse, self-harm and low self-esteem. Many women feel they cannot discuss these in mixed-gender settings.

Crucially, the evidence shows that some women would not access support unless it was women-only. Therefore, many women in need of vital support services would not receive them. Without women-only services, there would be significant costs to the state as a result of increased demand and use of public services.

WRC also conducted a poll of 1,000 women, which overwhelmingly showed support for access to women-only services:

• 97% stated that a woman should have the choice of accessing a women-only support service if they had been the victim of sexual assault
• 90% of women believed it was important to have the right to report sexual or domestic violence to a woman (such as a Police Officer)
• 78% thought it was important to have the choice of a woman professional for counselling and personal support needs.
  

Our findings are also pertinent in light of the current crisis in rape support services, where there has been a collective failure of statutory organisations, centrally and locally, to provide funding to specialist, women-only services which provide crucial support to women who have been raped, sexually assaulted or experienced childhood sexual abuse.

In 1985, there were 84 Rape Crisis Centres in the UK. Now, approximately 32 Rape Crisis Centres remain and are currently facing a severe funding crisis and the threat of closure. None of the remaining centres have stable, statutory funding. (See NCVO press release)

While the Government has provided funding for 30 (statutory) Sexual Assault and Referral Centres (SARCs), they are primarily focused on gathering forensic evidence to secure a conviction. Rape Crisis Centres, on the other hand, offer long-term, specialist services e.g. counselling, advocacy and support for women with complex needs, to support women who are dealing with experiences of sexual violence. They support women who have experienced abuse either recently or historically.

Rape Crisis Centres are currently struggling to survive despite the need for these services and their added value. Generic, statutory services that have not been built upon an ethos of empowerment and a specific focus on women’s needs can never replace the expertise that exists within the women’s sector.

Recommendations
We include a number of recommendations that local infrastructure organisations can implement that involve taking up the real and pressing concerns of the women’s voluntary and community sector in your borough. You can do this by:

• Reading the Gender Equality Duty guidance and being aware that gender-neutral approaches are being implemented by public bodies, particularly at local level. Be ready to support women’s organisations that are being challenged to justify their women-only status and contact WRC if you hear of any cases in your borough.

• Challenging gender-neutral approaches need in local networks and forums, including local strategic partnerships (LSPs). Is there adequate representation of women’s organisations on your LSP?

• Monitoring compliance with the Gender Equality Duty and Sexual Violence and Abuse Action Plan. This entails making sure women-only provision exists for sexual violence survivors.

• Monitoring funding streams to make sure different equalities groups, including women’s organisations, are being included. This is particularly relevant in relation to the tendencies of local public bodies to fund generic organisations over specialist ‘by women, for women’ organisations to deliver services to women.
  

Why women-only? The value and benefits of by women, for women services can be downloaded Why women-only? report Oct 2007