Charities supporting victims and survivors of harmful practices are facing a funding crisis with fears of being shut down.
Funding crisis in the charity sector
Since 2008, the Sharan Project has played a crucial role in supporting women of South Asian origin, who have been or are at risk of being disowned due to abuse or persecution. Women and non-binary people in minoritised communities are caught up in the web of domestic abuse, modern-day slavery, domestic servitude, forced marriage, honour-based abuse, dowry violence and other forms of harmful practices.
On average, we support 500 women and respond to a further 200 professional or third-party enquiries each year. As essential key workers during the pandemic, we were a vital lifeline for women (and their children) who experienced abuse whilst being locked down with their abusers.
Post the pandemic, we have seen a 20% increase in demands to our service, but there are little to no funds available to ensure victims, survivors and witnesses receive the support they desperately need.
In December 2020, we launched the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant (EDAC) to support all women affected by abuse to enter or re-enter the workplace. We are currently working with around 200 employers who have successfully created and delivered workplace opportunities for over 1000 women.
We have been instrumental in changes to UK law and policies to ensure our client’s voices are heard. We have also delivered a number of national projects and programmes to educate, inspire and empower women and girls.
We are thankful to all our supporters, funders and partners. Together we’ve been able to make a significant impact across the UK, helping thousands of victims, survivors, witnesses and communities. However, due to the systemic lack of commitment to fund ‘by and for’ services, especially grassroot charities like us, we are facing a critical financial crisis like never before, leaving essential community led services at risk of closure.
This shortage threatens our ability to continue providing the essential services that so many of our clients and service users rely on. This is why we need your support today.
How did we get here?
For decades, there has been systemic inequality within the Violence Against Women and Girls sector (VAWG) when it comes to the distribution of and access to funding, sadly this disproportionately impacts grassroots, micro and specialist ‘by and for’ charities.
The 2023 ROSA report, looked at the funding disparity provided to ‘by and for’ services and called for the Government to address this gap, ensuring victims and survivors are able to access the support they need from specialist services.
The full report can be found here which highlights the imbalanced spread of income within the violence against women and girls (VAWG) sector: According to ROSA, grassroots, by and for and micro domestic abuse services make up 86.5% of the VAWG sector yet receive just 3.9% of total VAWG funding).
In recognition of this, the VAWG sector anti-racism charter was established, again calling for action to ensure equity and support for ‘by and for’ services by the 13.5% of the sector who receive 96.1% of VAWG funding, a third of which do not have a priority focus on women and girls.
In a report from the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales, “By and for’ services were 5 times less likely to receive statutory funding than mainstream domestic abuse or violence against women and girls organisations”.
The report also established that 67% of Black and minoritised survivors wanted access to a specialist ‘by and for’ organisation. which is why there have been calls for ring fenced funding to be made available to services such as ours, to ensure minoritised and migrant women are able to access specialist support. The full report can be found here
However, time is not on our side, and we cannot wait for potential changes to be considered.
We cannot claim to support all women if we continue to overlook systemic discrimination that results in unequitable funds for services that address the unique challenges faced by minoritised women. It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that the VAWG sector is inclusive and equitable for all.
We can’t do it without you
Without immediate financial support, we may have to make difficult decisions that could impact the lives of those who depend on us. But with your help, we can prevent that from happening.
Your donation today will:
- Ensure job security for our staff
- Allow us to keep our information line open and manned five days a week
- Continue to support women affected by abuse and harmful practices
- Provide access to employability opportunities
- Work with employers to create inclusive workplaces
- Pilot programmes and schemes to ensure women can lead an independent life
It all counts
Whether you can give £10, £50, £100, or more, every contribution makes a difference. Why not consider making a regular donation to help us plan ahead and cover core costs.
Your support is not just about money – it’s about hope, compassion, and a shared commitment to making our society a better place.
If you would like to fundraise for us, you can go to our Just Giving Page and click on the ‘Fundraising for us’ button
Thank you for your continued commitment to the Sharan Project. We are grateful for the part you have played in and continue to play to support us to help victims, survivors and witnesses of harmful practices and abuse
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