Download strategy:
About our strategy
The strategy outlines our 10-year approach, and focuses on the following 4 priorities:
- Developing a coordinated community response.
- Prevention.
- Support for victim and survivors.
- Holding perpetrators accountable.
The strategy will enable:
- all partners to be clear about our agreed priorities for the next 10 years and embed these within their own organisations and strategic plans, including joint plans
- all residents to understand and feel able to contribute towards making Haringey a safer and healthier place for all
- victims and survivors to feel supported to seek help and empowered to lead safe lives, free from abuse
- perpetrators to know that their behaviour will not be tolerated and where they can seek support for abusive behaviour
This strategy has been developed in partnership with a wide range of statutory, voluntary and community organisations from across Haringey. We have utilised existing evidence around ‘what works’ in addressing and preventing violence against women and girls (VAWG).
Key considerations
Locally we have adopted some key statements to inform our response to violence against women and girls:
- Violence against women and girls is an abuse of human rights.
- Women and girls are disproportionately victims of the forms of abuse and crimes that are listed in the definition of violence against women and girls.
- Too often women and girls are blamed for this form of abuse. The responsibility needs to be on our communities to create safe spaces where women and girls can report if they’re experiencing abuse and seek support.
- Perpetrators are responsible for their behaviour.
- Perpetrators and abusers of violence against women and girls are overwhelmingly men, but men and boys can also be victims of some of these forms of violence.
- Violence against women and girls is about power and control of women’s behaviour and sexual agency by partners or family members, which reinforces gender inequality.
- A coordinated community response, where agencies and the community work together, is the only effective way to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls.
- Abuse can take place regardless of gender, class, income levels, ethnicity, faith, ability, sexuality or age. Although, some people are at greater risk of some of the forms of violence, including disabled women, young women, LGBT+ people, and older women.
- The forms of violence against women and girls are rarely on off events – they are often part of a pattern of abuse. Victims often experience more than one form of this violence at any one time, or during their experience of abuse.
- Haringey is an extremely diverse borough and a ‘one size fits all’ approach to supporting victim and survivors will not be effective. We need a person-centred approach to effect real change in the borough.
VAWG consultation
From 1 August to 10 October 2016, we conducted a consultation on our draft violence against women and girls (VAWG) Strategy 2016. Our Cabinet considered the results of this consultation and agreed the strategy, which was put into effect on 25 November 2016 (International Day of Elimination of Violence towards Women Day).
Download: VAWG consultation report, 2016
Reason for consultation
When there is a change in policy that affects our residents, It is our practice to consult you at the earliest opportunity. We also wanted your views on the Strategy as a whole.
By sharing your views, we get a greater understanding of what you consider important.
The needs of victim and survivors are at the heart of our work. The consultation was an opportunity for us to listen to victim and survivors to make sure their voice was heard.
Coordinated community response
No single agency can be responsible for ending violence against women and girls (VAWG). Developing a Coordinated Community Response (CCR), where all agencies work together with the community, has been recognised as the only effective and sustainable way to end violence against women and girls. It is one of the Strategy's 4 key priorities.
Community engagement pilot
Working together with our communities in Haringey is key. The Haringey VAWG Team have developed a Community Engagement model as part of our CCR to make sure we are working with our partners in a cohesive and effective way. The Community Engagement model was piloted across the borough in 2021.
The key elements of the CCR Community Engagement model include:
- identifying and training Safe Spaces and Community Initiatives
- recruiting and training VAWG community champions
- co-producing an effective communications campaign with our partners
Training staff and volunteers
VAWG community champions and staff or volunteers from Safe Spaces and Community Initiatives will be trained to:
- identify the signs of domestic abuse
- know what steps to take if you think someone is experiencing domestic abuse
- know how to safely respond to a disclosure of domestic abuse
- know what specialist domestic abuse support services are available in the borough and how to signpost to them
- know how to effectively challenge dangerous myths and stereotypes about domestic abuse
What we hope to achieve
We hope the pilot will help us to achieve the following:
- Increase capacity within the community to identify early signs of domestic abuse and provide intervention
- Help women and girls experiencing abuse to access support sooner and increase their chances of being safe from violence
- Increase referrals to domestic abuse and VAWG services
- Increase data accuracy of domestic abuse and VAWG in our communities
- Challenge the root causes of domestic abuse and VAWG in our communities which will ultimately help prevent further VAWG from occurring