Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance she has issued to local authorities on the provision of specialist BME domestic violence services.

We are determined to ensure that all victims of domestic violence, including those from black and minority ethnic communities, have the same opportunities to access the criminal justice system and the appropriate support and services.

The Government has already committed £40 million for domestic abuse services including refugees between 2016 and 2020, provided a £2 million grant to Women’s Aid and SafeLives to support a new domestic abuse early intervention project, protected funding of over £6.4 million to 86 female Rape Support Centres for 2016/17. We have also committed to a further year of funding to support the local provision of 144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and 87 Independent Sexual Violence Advisers for 2016/17.

The Government will shortly publish an updated Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy which will set out how we will work with local areas and specialist charities to support all victims of VAWG, including black and ethnic minority victims.