This commitment reflects decades of research, parliamentary engagement, evidence submissions, advocacy and influencing by Imkaan and our members who have consistently called for national, ring-fenced investment in VAWG organisations led ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised women. We have been saying for decades that VAWG cannot be tackled through generic, fragmented, short-term funding, and that the funding system has historically marginalised the organisations best placed to provide support. 

In 2018, Imkaan found that 10 England-based mainstream VAWG organisations had a combined turnover of £26.4 million (averaging £2.6 million per organisation) whereas 25 Black and minoritised ‘by and for’ organisations shared an annual income of £10 million (averaging just £400k per organisation).3 

As one Imkaan member said:   “The current...bidding should evidence the ongoing struggle for Black and minoritised women's organisations and [we] could not get support from commissioners. This is not a random occurrence. We are excluded if future funding follows this very unfair model. Threats impact on income & growth, and ability to deliver on the frontline.” 

 There is ample evidence that illustrates the crucial importance of these services which are holistic, intersectional by design, and where staff are equipped with specialised training and a lived-experience based understanding of how best to respond to the entirety of a victim-survivor's context, including the intersection of abuse with institutional barriers such as immigration status, the No Recourse to Public Funds condition, race, class and other factors.  

The commitment to delivering this fund is an important step towards addressing long-standing inequalities in access to funding and ensuring that resources reach the specialist organisations that many victim-survivors trust and choose to access. We await the swift and effective implementation of these commitments as they will be critical in closing gaps in provision and ensuring that the Black and minoritised victim-survivors of VAWG are not left without access to safety and support. 

Imkaan Executive Director Ghadah Alnasseri said “The Government’s commitment to funding specialist advocacy provision, including ‘by and for’ services, is a significant and long-overdue recognition of what Black and minoritised women and frontline organisations have been saying for decades: that VAWG cannot be addressed through generic responses alone. Survivors’ experiences are shaped by racism, immigration status, poverty and discrimination, and specialist ‘by and for’ services are uniquely placed to respond to this reality. This commitment has the potential to be significant, but only if it is delivered through ring-fenced, equitable and long-term funding and implemented with urgency and with clear oversight, so that no survivor is left without access to safety and support.” 

While we are encouraged by the commitment to dedicated funding for ‘by and for’ services, the strategy does not fully address our concerns, which we will review further in the new year. 

Lastly, we are deeply grateful to our members and the brave victim-survivors who shared their experiences, and whose voices made this progress possible. We will continue working alongside them until an end to violence against Black and minoritised women becomes a reality. 

Full analysis of the VAWG strategy will be available in January 2026.