Imkaan Response Piece
Home Affairs Select Committee backs calls for long-term, ring-fenced funding: Major step forward for ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised women’s VAWG services.
11th July 2025
In April, Imkaan submitted written and oral evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee’s inquiry into the governments’ progress on tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG). Now, the Home Affairs Committee have published its final report - publicly echoing what Imkaan and other ‘by and for’ VAWG organisations have been saying for decades:
Violence against Black and minoritised women and girls cannot be tackled through generic, fragmented, short-term funding; yet the funding system has historically excluded the organisations best placed to help - and has never reflected the urgency that this crisis demands.
In its latest report, the Home Affairs Committee warns that the Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade is being undermined by:
Short-term and competitive funding bids
Inconsistent definition of VAWG and fragmented data collection mechanism
A lack of cross-government coordination
A funding system that favours large providers and puts Black and minoritised ‘by and for’ VAWG organisations at risk of closure.
In a significant step, the Committee calls for:
National ringfenced funding for ‘by and for’ services
Longer-term funding cycles (3 to 5 years)
A shift away from purely quantitative “value for money” metrics
A national strategy for prevention underpinned by research and evidence
Better coordination between cross-government groups and funding authorities
Imkaan is cited repeatedly in the report, and our Executive Director, Ghadah Alnasseri’s evidence forms a key part of its findings.
“Imkaan research data shows that more than 85% of Black and minoritised women prefer to receive support from Black and minoritised VAWG services, and 99% state that such services make them feel safer and protected."
“But 90% of Imkaan members don’t have dedicated monitoring and evaluation staff. This can hinder the ability of smaller organisations to apply for funding as they do not have the capacity to meet the reporting requirements.”
Ghadah Alnasseri,
speaking to the Committee.
Structural barriers are still being ignored
Despite their unique role, smaller, specialist organisations - especially those led by and for Black and minoritised women - continue to be locked out of funding structures.
The report reinforces that ‘by and for’ services are essential - not optional - in ending VAWG, and clearly acknowledges the unique, irreplaceable role of ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised services, in delivering effective support and change.
It highlights the deep structural barriers that ‘by and for’ organisations have continued to face, including:
Financial instability caused by short-term funding cycles, making long-term planning and staff retention almost impossible.
Disproportionate administrative burden placed on smaller organisations through complex, competitive, commercially driven tendering and procurement processes that prioritise cost over quality.
Lack of ring-fenced funding, despite these organisations being best placed to meet the needs of those most often left out of mainstream systems of support.
“Competitive tendering excludes small and specialist providers, as they do not meet the requirement for the financial threshold for bidding” Ghadah told the Committee.
“Larger, mainstream organisation providers have the HR and admin capacity to navigate complex bidding and requirements - allowing them to offer shorter timelines and lower cost services” and even when working in partnership with them, we have experienced white-led organisations retain[ing] up to 70% of the overall funding”.
This broken model is not only unsustainable, but also dangerous.
Echoing what ‘by and for’ organisations have been saying for decades - the Committee said that greater emphasis should be placed on the impact of services on survivors’ lives, rather than just the numbers.
The Committee noted a disconnect between what is measured and what is funded, as well as insufficient funding for small organisations to monitor and measure outcomes of their service delivery, an issue previously highlighted in our VAWG sector briefing on the metrics.
They have called for a shift to 3-to-5-year funding cycles, recognising this as key to enabling stability and sustainability of ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised services; and to improving outcomes for victims and survivors.
Prevention must be prioritised - not just referenced
The report also warns that the Government will not meet its own mission to halve VAWG unless it prioritises prevention - and invests in the research, strategy and community infrastructure needed to make it work. This includes empowering women, funding universities and the third sector to build the evidence base for what works. This is essential if we are to reduce VAWG in the long term and shift from response to transformation.
The Committee’s findings build on a body of recent evidence gathered by the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee, and mirrors the long-standing calls of specialist VAWG organisations. The government must acknowledge these calls. Prevention isn’t a nice-to-have - it’s our best shot at halving VAWG. That means ring-fencing funding for research, education and ‘by and for’ community-led solutions.
Statement from Ghadah Alnasseri, Executive Director of Imkaan
" We welcomed the opportunity to provide evidence at the Home Affairs Committee, and we are pleased that it echoes many of our concerns. The Home Affairs Committee’s report confirms what we in the specialist VAWG sector have long known and raised which is that the current fragmented, short-term, and competitive statutory funding systems are not only inefficient they are actively undermining work to end violence against women and girls. The government’s stated ambition to halve VAWG in a decade is commendable, but it must be matched by concrete action. This report exposes the deep-rooted systemic and structural failures that continue to block progress especially the chronic underfunding of ‘by and for’ organisations that serve Black and minoritised women and girls. These services are lifesaving and often the only safe spaces available to women most marginalised and rendered invisible by mainstream systems. The current government funding model, which forces smaller specialist organisations to compete with well-resourced national mainstream bodies, is neither fair nor effective. It exhausts the capacity of frontline organisations while favouring those with the infrastructure to meet arbitrary value-for-money criteria. As the report rightly notes, VAWG is not a commercial issue, but it is a social justice emergency. Imkaan strongly supports the report’s call for a national ringfenced fund for ‘by and for’ specialised services, alongside a shift to longer-term, stable funding that allows for proper planning, staffing, and evaluation. The government must also radically improve transparency and coordination across departments to avoid duplication and fill urgent gaps in provision. Women and girls’ survivors cannot wait. Organisations at the frontline of providing crucial support to minoritised and marginalised communities cannot continue to operate in survival mode and on a funding cliff edge. If the government is serious about halving VAWG, it must act urgently, with vision and accountability to those most affected and marginalised. " What’s next?
We welcome the Committee’s recommendations - but recognition is not the same as reform.
If the government is serious about halving VAWG, these recommendations must be reflected in their forthcoming VAWG strategy - with clear, accountable commitments to long-term, strategic and equitable funding. The call is clear. Centre the organisations who’ve been doing this work with little support - and enormous cost - for generations.
Imkaan will keep pushing for the Government reform the ‘by and for’ sector urgently needs - alongside our members, partners and communities - to ensure that no woman or girl is left behind because of where she comes from, what she looks like, or who holds the purse strings.
Read the full Home Affairs Committee report here.