Out of Sight, Out of Mind.
Imkaan launches a new campaign. New research shows Black and minoritised women are being left out of specialist mental health support. Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are failing to fund specialist ‘by and for’ VAWG services, and Imkaan is calling for urgent government action.
24th March 2026
Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are failing to fund specialist violence against women and girls (VAWG) services led ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised women.
» Imkaan’s new research report ‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind’ brings together new evidence, frontline insight and urgent calls for change. It exposes deep inequalities in health commissioning and calls for urgent government action.
» Our joint letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, signed by organisations across the VAWG, mental health and racial justice sectors, sets out the changes needed in response to these findings.
» This report and letter launch Out of Sight, Out of Mind - Imkaan’s new campaign, calling on the government to address inequalities in the commissioning of therapeutic support for Black and minoritised survivors from specialist ‘by and for’ VAWG services.
What does the research show?
This research is based on Freedom of Information requests sent to all 42 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) across England. Of those, 41 responded.
Black and minoritised victim-survivors of violence against women and girls need access to specialist, trauma-informed support that understands the realities of abuse, racism and inequality.
But our findings reveal that specialist ‘by and for’ VAWG services, led by Black and minoritised women and best placed to support Black and minoritised women, are being shut out of health funding and systemically overlooked in commissioning decisions - including when it comes to therapeutic and mental health support for Black and minoritised victim-survivors.
KEY FINDINGS
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Not one respondent had commissioned a ‘by and for’ VAWG service to provide therapeutic support to Black and minoritised victim-survivors.
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Only 13 ICBs commissioned mainstream VAWG services, while only one commissioned a specialist ‘by and for’ service to deliver any support at all.
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ICBs provided at least £2,790,672 to 18 mainstream VAWG organisations, while only £47,000 was allocated to one specialist ‘by and for’ organisation.
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Our research identifies problems with Black and minoritised women being able to access appropriate support, alongside a fragmented approach to VAWG across public bodies, with VAWG still routinely not being treated as a health issue.
Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) have a crucial role in planning health services, overseeing commissioning and managing NHS budgets. They also have responsibilities to reduce inequalities in health services.
But Imkaan’s research shows that specialist ‘by and for’ VAWG services are not being recognised, funded or meaningfully engaged in the way they should be.
That means Black and minoritised women continue to be left out of the mental health support landscap - despite clear evidence of need, and despite the expertise that already exists within specialist frontline organisations.
» The problem with the current system
We know from our previous research, Why Should Our Rage Be Tidy?, produced with Women and Girls Network and the University of Warwick, that Black and minoritised victim-survivors often face dehumanising, re-traumatising and pathologising responses when seeking help for abuse-related trauma.
Women told us that specialist, trauma-informed support from ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised VAWG organisations made a profound difference to their recovery and wellbeing.
The sooner victim-survivors can access that support, the better their chances of healing, safety and long-term recovery.
And yet, decades of chronic underfunding mean these specialist services are too often expected to meet deep and urgent need without the sustained investment required to do so.
» Why specialist ‘by and for’ support matters
What are we calling for?
As part of Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Imkaan is calling on government to:
Ensure that Integrated Care Boards fund and collaborate with Black and minoritised VAWG services.
Strengthen scrutiny and oversight into mental health support for Black and minoritised victim-survivors of VAWG.
These changes are necessary if Black and minoritised women are to access the specialist support they need; and if commissioning decisions are to stop reproducing the very inequalities the health system says it wants to reduce.
“BLACK AND MINORITISED WOMEN HAVE BEEN LEFT OUT OF THE MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT LANDSCAPE.”
- Executive Director
of Imkaan, Ghadah Alnasseri
“This research reflects what our frontline members have been telling us for years: Black and minoritised women are too often left out of the mental health support system, unable to access the specialist help they need to recover.
Therapeutic support is vital after abuse, yet the specialist Black and minoritised ‘by and for’ services that provide holistic, trauma-informed and intersectional support for Black and minoritised survivors are almost entirely excluded from health funding.
Integrated Care Boards must play their part in tackling VAWG. The Health Secretary must ensure these bodies fund specialist Black and minoritised ‘by and for’ services and strengthen scrutiny of commissioning decisions so Black and minoritised women are no longer overlooked.”
What happens next?
This report is part of a broader effort to push for change in how mental health support is understood, commissioned and delivered for Black and minoritised victim-survivors of VAWG.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind brings together research, advocacy and action to ensure that specialist ‘by and for’ services are no longer treated as optional, peripheral or invisible.
The next step is clear: government and health leaders must act on the evidence.
What can you do to help?
- Read the research.
- Share the findings.
- Support the call for change.
Black and minoritised women should not be left out of the mental health support they need.
Read the report, explore the findings, and see the action Imkaan is calling for.