A huge thank you to @Matthew_Patrick MP for asking the government to work with us and @UKFtweets to restore the credit files of economic abuse survivors like Emily. Emily's ex-partner stopped paying the mortgage resulting in debt and credit destruction.
Thanks as well to @Keir_Starmer for recognising economic abuse as a ''national emergency''. However, we need the government to do more.
We urgently need an economic abuse task force to enable cross-government work with the Violence Against Women and Girls and financial services sector to end this devastating form of domestic abuse.
Alongside @SEAresource we are calling for a government task force to help people impacted by financial abuse. Read @BBCNews⤵️featuring a quote from our Head of Vulnerability Policy @FionaDTurner. More info in our From Control to Financial Freedom Report: https://t.co/QA7riYNcYQ
A new @SEAresource report reveals that joint mortgages are being weaponised as a tool for abuse.
I support the report's recommendations and I hope Govt will take action.
The impacts can be long-term and far reaching for victims. If you need support ⬇️
https://t.co/apgjtQ6n7e
A @BBCBreaking investigation has found that more than a third of accredited university social work courses in England are not teaching specific training on coercive control.
It is absolutely critical that social workers are effectively trained to identify, assess the risk of, & respond to coercive and controlling behaviours.
👉🏼 Read here: https://t.co/CUOx0S8GV9
Very excited to be hosting the annual Crime, Harm, and Ethics research cluster conference tomorrow. This year’s focus is on violence (in its many and various forms) and we’ve got a fantastic selection of speakers including leading academics and practitioners.
I’m very excited to start our new @UKFinNetwork funded project next month, with my incredible colleagues Belen Barros Pena and @_kathrynroyal, and our partner @SEAresource. Click here for more info: https://t.co/nxdAFcHbhr
📢 We have funded our first Feasibility project! "Designing out economic abuse in the UK banking industry"🎉 Congratulations to Dr Clare Wiper, Assistant Professor of Criminology , Northumbria University for her successful Feasibility funding application.
@clerotto@UKFinNetwork@_kathrynroyal@SEAresource Oh no, I didn’t realise you’d left your scarf! I shared the office with other colleagues so might have assumed it was theirs. I’ll check to see if it’s there (but don’t remember seeing it 🙁)
Women's prisons could be shut and converted to house male inmates to ease overcrowding, reports the Mirror.
This is a vital moment for this Labour govt to seize a step-change in our response to female offenders. Prison has proven time and again to NOT be a safe place for women, nor tackle the root causes of their offending.
Now is the time to act and close them for good:
🔺 Self-harm for women in prison was at the highest rate ever recorded in 2023, an increase of 63% and eleven times higher than in the male estate.
🔺 76% of women in prison report having a mental health problem.
🔺 53% of women in prison have experienced abuse as children.
🔺 72% of women leaving one prison faced homelessness or unsafe accommodation.
🔺 Pregnant women are 7x more likely than those outside prison to suffer a stillbirth.
Women are disproportionately imprisoned through a failure to tackle the root causes of crime. Austerity has not only dealt us a prison overcrowding crisis, it has in tandem with a cost of living crisis exacerbated offending, further increasing the needs of women and families.
Women are most likely to be primary carers for children and other adults around them, as well as to be susceptible to sexualised exploitation for fear of escalating violence, homelessness, threat or material need, found @RevDoors.
For the more than 70% of female offenders who have experienced domestic abuse, and whose offending is rooted in their abuse, this compounds the outcome. Leaving women destitute, homeless. With no holistic response to address their harm, they are spat out of the system, often back in the control of their abuser.
Pregnant women and mothers? One in three are held in prison pre-trial. Two babies have died in England’s prisons in recent years. Inquests into newborn babies dying in prison have found huge failings for what is in real terms a dark ages Dickensian practice that should be abolished.
The answer? Investing in the community solutions, like Women Centre's. The case is clear, and has been for years. WC’s have a proven track record of delivering results that stems from providing a holistic specialist approach to tackling how and why women offend. Giving women empowerment and support they need to avoid re-offending whilst addressing harms.
Against a spend of £1.7bn on issues linked to female offending, a place at a Woman’s Centre ranges from £1,223 to £4,125 per woman depending on needs, whilst a place in prison costs £52,121.
This makes sense. This needs to happen.
**JOB ALERT** Fancy joining our fab team at @SEAresource to be mat cover for our lovely Media Manager? I can promise you working to end #economicabuse is one of the most important things you could ever do. APPLY https://t.co/uXeZiGe2EI
With the #GeneralElection taking place in a few short weeks, we, along with over 70 sector organisations, issued a joint manifesto, calling for all parties to prioritise ending #VAWG. Read more about what this means here: https://t.co/CG0IfTvsml
GOOD NEWS FRIDAY! 🎉
This week one of our advisers won a tribunal for our client, resulting in £17,000 in client financial gains! This is money straight into the pockets of a survivor of gender-based violence who needed it.
That’s a wrap on our 2024 Public Policy Conference! We’ve heard from so many incredible speakers today sharing best practice and insight into the ways we're supporting survivors. There's a long way to go, but with a whole society response we can #EndAbuseTogether