Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) are pleased to announce their support for the 16 Days of Action against Gender-Based Violence (VAWG) campaign.
Buildings throughout Argyll and Bute and across Scotland will be illuminated in green, white, purple and orange to support the campaign. This international campaign runs from the 25th of November to the 10th of December every year and aims to raise awareness around the issue of gender-based violence. The campaign started in 1991 at the inauguration of the Women’s Global Leadership Institute and commences on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on the 25th of November.
The National Violence Against Women Network (NVAWN) is promoting the theme of "Imagine a Scotland without gender-based violence". This year, the campaign is calling on citizens worldwide to share the actions they are taking to create a world free from violence towards women and girls. The slogan for this year's campaign is "UNITE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls.”
The importance of this issue cannot be overstated. According to current statistics, Police Scotland recorded 64,807 incidents of domestic abuse in 2021/22, with 81% involving a female victim and a male perpetrator. Shockingly, research repeatedly shows that most cases of domestic abuse go unreported, with an estimated 1 in 3 women in Scotland experiencing domestic abuse at some point in their lives, and 1 in 5 children in Scotland experiencing domestic abuse before they turn 18. More recent figures for 2022/23 show a 1% increase in the number of crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act, with 95% of those crimes involving a female victim. The latest national homicide statistics for Scotland reveal that over half of female victims (56% or 9 victims) in 2021/22 were killed by a partner or ex-partner, making this issue even more urgent to address.
Violence against women and girls has a significant personal and financial impact. VAWG costs the UK an estimated £40 billion annually, with domestic violence and abuse alone costing an estimated £15.7 billion in 2008.
If you or someone you know is suffering from gender-based violence or domestic abuse and you are seeking advice and support:
- visit the Argyll and Bute Women’s Aid (ABWA) website
- phone 01369 706636
- email info@abwa.org.uk
- follow their Facebook page
Alternatively, support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on Scotland’s Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline:
- phone 0800 027 1234
If you're in immediate danger, phone 999.
Notes to editors
Argyll and Bute Violence Against Women and Girls Partnership
Every one of the 32 Council areas in Scotland hosts a Violence Against Women and Girls Partnership and they all link to a National Violence Against Women Network. They exist to ensure both local and national coordination and promotion of efforts to tackle gender-based violence against women and girls, including domestic violence.
Argyll and Bute has an active partnership that meets regularly and is made up of a wide range of key partners in a variety of organisations including:
- Health and Social Care
- Police
- Education
- Housing
- Fire and Rescue
- University and Colleges
- Women’s Aid, Rape Crisis, ASSIST
- Young Carers, Alcohol and Drug Partnership
- Early Years, Infant Mental HEALTH
- Council
- Adult and Child Protection
- Other third-sector partners
Some of the key things happening at the moment include the roll-out of Safe and Together. Safe and Together is a model that comes from America and is being rolled out across many areas of Scotland including Argyll and Bute. It aims to ensure that where there are domestic abuse and child protection concerns, all agencies will look to support the non-abusive partner and ensure that, wherever possible, children and young people remain safe and together with them. Its principles include working with the non-abusive partner and recognising the strengths she has to protect her children and supporting her in that. The model also seeks to hold the perpetrators to account for their actions and the impacts they have on their children. They are responsible for their actions, not the non-abusive partner.
In Argyll and Bute, staff are currently being trained in the model and this will continue throughout 2024. This will be coupled with a review of child protection and domestic abuse services and interventions with perpetrators. These steps represent an important move forward and it is hoped will increase the trust victims have in services and ensure that more children remain at home. Such important change will take time but a good start has been made and training is going ahead for all relevant staff across a range of agencies including social work, health, education, housing and the third sector.