Policy
Standing Together’s policy work aims to shape national and local policies to improve responses to domestic abuse by advocating for the Coordinated Community Response (CCR) model and promoting its benefits to policymakers, statutory agencies, and voluntary sector organisations. We achieve this through consultation responses, research, briefing MPs, press engagement, and driving policy change across all areas of our work. We drive policy across many sectors, including housing, health, criminal justice, and so on.
Health Sector
In the health sector, our Crossing Pathways Project has led to the formation of INCADVA, a national forum uniting medical, nursing, and allied health professionals with DVA agencies to implement national health guidance. INCADVA’s evidence-based research has shaped national policy, including contributions to the Domestic Abuse Bill, advocating for early intervention in healthcare.
You can find more about our work in Health Sector by clicking the button
Black and Minoritised/global majority survivors
For Black and minoritised/global majority survivors, Standing Together was one of the founding members of the pan-London Harmful Practices Strategic Partnership (HPSP) which has been driving policy reforms to improve support for global majority survivors of VAWG and Harmful Practices. Our Coaction Hub partnership coordinates HPSP and through equitable partnership with Asian Women’s Resource Centre (AWRC), we continue to coordinate this group as a collaborative and safe space that brings together specialist ‘by and for’ VAWG leads and multi-agency stakeholders to reduce siloed working and hold strategic discussions on the institutional barriers faced by Black and minoritised women and ‘by and for’ organisations. HPSP’s collective response to the Women and Equality Committee’s call for evidence on honour-based abuse has been published and very well received.
Housing
In the housing sector, Standing Together has co-founded the Domestic Abuse and Housing Alliance (DAHA) to improve the housing sector’s response to domestic abuse. At the heart of DAHA is our National Housing and Domestic Abuse Policy and Practice Group which shares best practice and influences policy and practice on domestic abuse and housing in England. With representatives from around 30 organisations in domestic abuse, LGBTQ+, housing, and homelessness sectors, the group works nationally to ensure DA survivors are heard, can access safe housing and quality services, and that housing and VAWG sectors coordinate effectively. We also have the Perpetrators and Housing Working Group that influences policy and practice that addresses perpetrator housing.
It is also endorsed by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England & Wales, Nicole Jacobs:
“Since its launch in 2014, the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) has driven forward significant positive change in the housing sector’s response to domestic abuse. I am proud to have been one of the founding members of DAHA in my previous role as Chief Executive of Standing Together Against Domestic Violence, and I am pleased to endorse these new accreditation standards which I would encourage all local authorities and housing providers to adopt.” (Nicole Jacobs, DA Commissioner England & Wales)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (formerly Department for Levelling up Housing & Communities) endorses DAHA as national best practice in the national Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy:
“Domestic abuse has a devastating effect on lives and communities and this Government has put forward proposals for new laws which will transform our approach to this terrible crime…
…I welcome this initiative led by the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance and encourage housing organisations to take a proactive approach to supporting survivors of domestic abuse.”
Policy Influencing
Policy influencing is central to our mission to drive tangible systems change. We believe that when systems change, survivor safety is ensured, and perpetrators are held accountable.
We have submitted responses to key legislation, including the Victims and Prisoners Bill, VAWG Strategies, and Clare’s Law. We have issued statements on the Assisted Dying Renters’ Rights Bill, Safe Leave Bill, Raneem’s Law, and the Government’s decision to allow media access to family courts.
In recent months, our work has received growing recognition at policy and media levels: · BBC: Highlighting the critical role housing plays in keeping survivors safe. · The Guardian: Domestic violence victims must be included in the assisted dying debate · The Telegraph: Elderly and disabled groups blocked from giving assisted dying evidence · Big Issue: Tory renting reforms could be ‘catastrophic’ for victims of domestic abuse · Parliamentary Evidence: Published Evidence to the Committee on the Assisted Dying Bill · Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Report: Shifting the Scales: Transforming the Criminal Justice Response to Domestic Abuse · Government Report: Standing Together’s Statement on Raneem’s Law cited in “Domestic abuse: Supporting victims and survivors”
These milestones are a testament to the impact we are making, but we know there is still so much more to do to strengthen civil society as whole and play a part in shaping a more equitable future, particularly for Black and minoritised survivors, LGBTQ+ and faith communities, women facing multiple oppressions, and disabled individuals experiencing intersecting disadvantages.