Agenda item
Violence Against Women Scrutiny (Task Group) Report
To agree a scrutiny report and recommendations for referral to Cabinet on violence against women.
Minutes:
Councillor Donnelly-Jackson introduced a report on the Violence Against Women Scrutiny Task Group. The Committee was then invited to raise questions on the report, which focused on a number of key areas as highlighted below:
· It was suggested that the report should not be the final piece of work that the Committee undertakes on the issue of violence against women and girls, as it was an evolving issue that could not be solved quickly. Its recommendations should be tracked to ensure they were effectively carried out.
· In response to a question from the Committee, it was noted that while levels of violence against women were generally higher in areas of deprivation, some evidence suggested that there was under reporting of instances such as coercive control and financial control in areas of affluence. However, the need to target resources to areas of high prevalence was recognised.
· It was noted that the task group had engaged with the Council’s Housing Management team regarding refuges for women in the borough. Some of the requirements for housing younger women was restrictive, and as such it was suggested that the Council considered the need for women’s refuges in its future housing plans.
· The members of the task group would have liked to have seen more engagement with a wider group of stakeholders including religious organisations. However, due to the impact of the pandemic fewer responses than expected had been received. The Committee was assured that religious organisations would be consulted before the recommendations agreed by Cabinet were implemented.
· It was noted that engagement with ethnic minorities had been lower than expected, again due to the impact of the pandemic. As such, data on the prevalence of violence against women within these demographic was limited. However, some reasons as to why prevalence may be higher in these groups were highlighted, such as cultural and religious views towards the status of women.
· It was noted that the report recommended that audits be carried out to identify risks for premises where women needed to access support services. This would cover a range of safety risks, such as hygiene, disabled access and public disorder.
Councillor Knight, Lead Member for Community Safety & Engagement, then summarised the Cabinet response to the report as follows:
· The task group’s findings were useful when considering the priorities of the Safer Brent Partnership, in particular its first priority which was to reduce the prevalence of domestic and sexual abuse towards women.
· The pandemic had put extraordinary pressures on services and additional risk to many vulnerable groups including women and girls, and the task group’s findings had further outlined the need for protection from domestic abuse and violence.
· The department was committed to taking the task group’s recommendations forward should the Committee adopt them, and to carefully considering the Cabinet’s executive response to provide clear commitments against the recommendations.
· Cabinet would also consider how it would share the task group’s findings with partner organisations within the Safer Brent Partnership.
Resolved
That the Violence Against Women Scrutiny report and recommendations be adopted and referred to Cabinet for consideration.
Supporting documents:
- Cover Report - Violence Against Women Scrutiny, item 6. PDF 72 KB
- Appendix 1 - Violence Against Women Scrutiny Task Group Report, item 6. PDF 1 MB