Elmore backs new move to tackle violence against women and girls
Elmore Community Service is backing a move to tackle violence against women and girls as new data from the Charity shows that Elmore, across all services, has been supporting 237 female clients in the eighteen months since the first national lockdown on 23 March 2020, and 112 of these have reported being a victim of sexual violence and/or domestic abuse. This number is nearly half (47.3%) of all the female clients supported by Elmore’s floating support team over the same time period. It includes reporting of abuse and violence before and/or during the pandemic period.
Left: Number of female clients (supported 23 March 2020 to 20 October 2021) recording sexual violence and/or domestic violence, where they are the victim, at any point during time with Elmore’s Floating Support.
Right: % of all female clients (supported 23 March 2020 to 20 October 2021) recording sexual violence and/or domestic violence, where they are the victim, at any point during time with Elmore’s Floating Support.
A cross-party motion will be brought to a Full Council meeting of West Oxfordshire District Council on 27 October 2021 to galvanise action in four important areas:
Making West Oxfordshire a district free from harassment and violence against women and girls by calling on the District Council to do everything in its power.
Work with the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner to report on the success of Thames Valley Police in tackling street violence against women and girls to the existing cross-party panel of councillors (the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel).
Draw on the skills, knowledge, and experience of local agencies to establish a working group to design and implement a Rural Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy which can sit within the existing Community Safety Partnership.
Send the message that tackling violence against women and girls is not a ‘women’s issue’ alone, but a matter which requires the allyship of men in achieving a culture change.
As a mental health, complex needs, and domestic abuse charity supporting women and girls experiencing domestic abuse, sexual violence, and sexual exploitation in West Oxfordshire and the county, Elmore backs the motion.
The motion is proposed by two female Councillors: Rosa Bolger (Labour and Co-operative), former Leader of Witney Town Council, and Merilyn Davies (Conservatives), Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities on West Oxfordshire District Council and Chair of the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel which scrutinises the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley.
The proposal of the motion follows the kidnap, rape, and murder of Sarah Everard and the sentencing of her perpetrator. The consciousness of violence against women and girls has been rising through online campaigns such as #MeToo. Women and girls suffer harassment and abuse every day, and the Thames Valley is no different. Last year there were almost 20,000 cases of stalking and harassment and over 5,000 cases of sexual assault, and these are just the ones that were reported.
The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed more than 1,100 lives in Oxfordshire and created widespread suffering and hardship for many. It is widely recognised that the pandemic has forced women and girls to suffer disproportionate impacts in a range of ways with far reaching consequences. Among those impacts are domestic violence, sexual violence, and sexual exploitation.
Elmore supports women and girls experiencing domestic abuse, sexual violence, and sexual exploitation, and works to make Oxfordshire a fairer and safer place for women and girls.
New data from the Charity shows that Elmore, across all services, has been supporting 237 female clients in the eighteen months since the first national lockdown on 23 March 2020, and 112 of these have reported being a victim of sexual violence and/or domestic abuse. This number is nearly half (47.3%) of all the female clients supported by Elmore’s floating support team over the same time period. It includes reporting of abuse and violence before and/or during the pandemic period.
This data is for users of the services in Elmore’s floating support team, which include its mental health and complex needs services, a tenancy sustainment service, a service to support adult survivors of child sexual exploitation (CSE), a Primary Care Project to link people to support for social, emotional, and practical needs, and a High Intensity User service to support individuals to access support within the community who make frequent use of an Emergency Department (ED) or emergency services.
Elmore delivers additional services, including a Domestic Abuse service as part of Family Solutions Plus, a model commissioned by Oxfordshire County Council to engage families. Through this service, Elmore has been supporting victims and survivors to feel safe and recover from the impacts of abuse. Elmore works with perpetrators of domestic abuse in group and individual settings to recognise, acknowledge, and change harmful and controlling behaviours. Elmore’s team of 11 domestic abuse workers has routinely worked with a live caseload of more than 90 individuals since early 2021.
In December 2020, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner awarded £124,000 of Ministry of Justice emergency funding to local charities, including Elmore Community Services, to support them in helping victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence.
For Anti-Slavery Day 2021, Elmore published a major independent evaluation of its Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) service. The findings highlight that clients were aged between 17 and 50 years at the point of referral into the service and most (82%) were female. New Beginnings was found to have impacted on clients and society broadly, including support to survivors that enabled them to give evidence and secure the successful conviction of offenders, which prevented offenders from exploiting further victims and ensured that financial costs incurred in preparing a case for trial were not wasted.
For Black History Month 2021, Elmore released a new podcast series for and by minoritised communities which partly focused on domestic abuse and sexual violence and getting support. The series was funded by the Office of the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner and produced with Oxford Against Cutting and Oxford Safer Communities Partnership.
Tom Hayes, Chief Executive of Elmore Community Services, said: “The safety of women and girls is a priority. It is unacceptable that women and girls are subject to harassment, abuse, and violence.
“New data from Elmore shows that just one of our teams has been supporting 237 female clients in the eighteen months since the first national lockdown on 23 March 2020, and 112 of these have reported being a victim of sexual violence and/or domestic abuse. This number is nearly half the total number of female clients supported by the same team during this period and increased by the number of female victims supported by our Domestic Abuse team.
“We support the call by two elected women, on a cross-party basis, to strengthen the protection of victims and prevention of abhorrent crimes of harassment, abuse, and violence. We welcome the commitment and support of the Police and Crime Commissioner on this important issue.”
Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley, said: “I welcome the opportunity to highlight the work of Thames Valley Police to protect women and police across our three counties and pay tribute to the work Elmore does in relation to female victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence. Dealing with the complex issues of domestic abuse, sexual harassment, and sexual assaults are intrinsic to my Police and Criminal Justice Plan. I will continue to hold the Force to account to deliver on behalf of victims of crime and ensure that the public are protected.”
Councillor Rosa Bolger, West Oxfordshire District Council, and former Leader of Witney Town Council, said: “My young son and my young daughter are the next generation. I’m raising my son to respect women and end toxic masculinity, I’m raising my daughter to become everything she wants to be free from harassment and misogyny. I propose this motion because women feel uneasy following the murder of many more women in the months since the horrific murder of Sarah Everard. Women want change, they want it to be supported by women and men, and they want it to happen free of party politics. That’s why I’m proud to be working on this issue on a cross-party basis, with strong support for the excellent domestic abuse and sexual violence services provided by Elmore.”
Councillor Merilyn Davies, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities on West Oxfordshire District Council and Chair of the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel, said: “Every woman may not experience violence on our streets, but every one of us knows what it feels like to be prepared for it. We have grown up knowing we need to assess the safety of our surrounding and instinctively plan to mitigate any possibility of danger. It cannot be right that 51% of our district experience this as a matter of course. This motion aims to reassure women that West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) take this matter seriously and that we will work with all relevant agencies—through the WODC-led Community Safety Partnership—to create a strategy which will support a woman’s right to walk down the street free from harm or abuse.”