In January 2009 the Commission, in partnership with the End Violence Against Women campaign, published a new report Map of Gaps 2 which maps specialised support services for women who experience violence, by local authority area.
Our report shows that one in four local authorities do not have any specialised support at all, and just one in ten has a specialised service for ethnic minority women. We found that there has been an increase in the number of Sexual Assault Referral Centres and specialised Domestic Violence courts. However, most women who experience domestic violence or abuse do not report to the police and therefore need specialised services in the voluntary sector and many of these services are facing a funding crisis.
The Commission is writing to each local authority, where the evidence suggests they are not providing services, to ask them to explain the situation. The Commission will take further action against those who fail to supply a satisfactory response.
Alongside the report, we launched an interactive website, www.mapofgaps.org, where members of the public can see what services are available in their area and contact their MP and local authority asking them to take action to improve provision.