Our VAWG Strategy
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On this page you will find information about:
- Haringey's 10 Year VAWG Strategy 2016-2026
- The VAWG Consultation which informed our VAWG Strategy
- Our Coordinated Community Response
Haringey's 10-Year VAWG Strategy 2016-2026
In November 2016, we launched our Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, 2016-2026.
The strategy outlines our 10-year approach, and focuses on the following 4 priorities:
- Developing a Coordinated Community Response
- Prevention
- Support for victim/survivors
- Holding perpetrators accountable
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The strategy will enable:
- all partners to be clear about our agreed priorities for the next 10 years and embed these within their own organisations and strategic plans, including joint plans
- all residents to understand and feel able to contribute towards making Haringey a safer and healthier place for all
- victims/survivors to feel supported to seek help and empowered to lead safe lives, free from abuse
- perpetrators to know that their behaviour will not be tolerated and where they can seek support for abusive behaviour
This strategy has been developed in partnership with a wide range of statutory, voluntary and community organisations from across Haringey. We have utilised existing evidence around ‘what works’ in addressing and preventing violence against women and girls.
Locally we have adopted some key statements to inform our response to violence against women and girls:
- Violence against women and girls is an abuse of human rights
- Women and girls are disproportionately victims of the forms of abuse and crimes that are listed in the definition of violence against women and girls
- Too often women and girls are blamed for this form of abuse; the onus needs to be on our communities to create safe spaces where women and girls can disclose if they’re experiencing abuse and seek support
- Perpetrators are responsible for their behaviour
- Perpetrators and abusers of violence against women and girls are overwhelmingly men, but men and boys can also be victims of some of these forms of violence
- Violence against women and girls is about power and control of women’s behaviour and sexual agency by partners or family members, which reinforces gender inequality
- A coordinated community response, where agencies and the community work together, is the only effective way to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls
- Abuse can take place regardless of gender, class, income levels, ethnicity, faith, ability, sexuality or age although some people are at greater risk of some of the forms of violence including disabled women, young women, LGBT women and men, and older women
- The forms of violence against women and girls are not discrete strands – they are often connected in a continuum of abuse. Victims often experience more than one form of this violence at any one time, or during their experience of abuse.
- Haringey is an extremely diverse borough and a ‘one size fits all’ approach to supporting victim/survivors will not be effective. We need a person-centred approach to effect real change in the borough
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The VAWG Consultation which informed our VAWG Strategy
The consultation on the draft Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2016-2026 in Haringey ran from 1 August to 10 October 2016. The council’s Cabinet considered the results of this consultation and agreed the Strategy, which was put into effect on 25 November 2016 (International Day of Elimination of Violence towards Women Day).
- View the VAWG Consultation Report (PDF, 1MB)
Why did we consult?
It is our practice that when there is a change in policy that affects our residents, we consult them at the earliest opportunity.
We also wanted your views on the Strategy as a whole.
By giving us your views, we were able to make sure we had a greater understanding of what you consider important.
The needs of victim/survivors are at the heart of our work. The consultation was an opportunity for us to listen to victim/survivors and ensure their voice was heard.
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Supporting documents
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Coordinated Community Response
No single agency can be responsible for ending Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). Developing a Coordinated Community Response (CCR), where all agencies work together in partnership with the community has been recognised within Haringey's 10-year VAWG Strategy as the only effective and sustainable way to end all violence against women and girls. It is one of the strategy's 4 key priorities.
Community Engagement Pilot
Working together with our communities in Haringey is key. The Haringey VAWG Team have developed a Community Engagement model as part of our CCR to ensure we are working with our partners in the voluntary and community sector in a cohesive and effective way. The Community Engagement model will be piloted across the borough in 2021.
The key elements of the CCR Community Engagement model include:
- Identifying and training Safe Spaces and Community Initiatives
- Recruiting and training VAWG Community Champions
- Co-producing an effective Communications Campaign with our partners
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VAWG Community Champions and staff/volunteers from Safe Spaces and Community Initiatives will be trained to:
- Identify the signs of Domestic Abuse (DA)
- Know what steps to take if you think someone is experiencing DA
- Know how to safely respond to a disclosure of DA
- Know what specialist DA support services are available in the borough and how to signpost to them
- Know how to effectively challenge dangerous myths and stereotypes about DA
We hope the pilot will help us to achieve the following:
- Increase capacity within the community to identify early signs of DA and provide intervention
- Help women and girls experiencing abuse to access support sooner and increase their chances of being safe from violence
- Increase referrals to DA and VAWG services
- Increase data accuracy of DA and VAWG in our communities
- Challenge the root causes of DA and VAWG in our communities which will ultimately help prevent further VAWG from occurring
If you are an individual or organisation based in Haringey and you would like to receive training to become a VAWG Community Champion or Safe Space, please get in touch with the VAWG team via email: vawg@haringey.gov.uk
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