£15 million funding boost for women who are victims of violence.

The Home Office is allocating millions of pounds to tackle violence against women and girls the Home Secretary has announced.

£8.4 million has been allocated to funding specialist support services for the most vulnerable women.  Most of the money will be given to services which are designed and led by the users and communities they serve.  This includes services for victims, survivors from ethnic minority backgrounds, disabled victims and LGBT victims.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “It is paramount that victims of insidious crimes like domestic abuse and sexual assault receive the support they need to rebuild their lives, and we know that those with other vulnerabilities need dedicated support.

“This funding comes in addition to an incredibly wide range of work across the board to ensure victims are supported and criminals are brought to justice.”

As part of its commitment to tackling all forms of violence against women and girls, the Home Office is also granting an additional £70,000 of funding for rapid forensic testing of samples from reported incidents of drink and needle spiking.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones commented saying: “I know that North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner, Zoë Metcalfe, have been doing a lot of work to combat violence against women and girls.  It is good to see further backing from the Home Secretary on such an important issue.”