Key programmes
MOPAC commissions a number of key programmes, which drive forward the London Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy. We commission both jointly with our colleagues in sectors such as Health, as well as commissioning solely from Mayor’s Office funds.
The programmes we commission are based on robust evidence, which identifies where gaps in services in London are and where a Pan London approach would be beneficial. We take pride in all of our commissioned services and work closely with providers to ensure they are able to offer a high quality and appropriate service to victims and survivors of VAWG.
We fund programmes that tackle a broad range of VAWG issues in the Capital including rape and sexual violence, domestic violence and harmful practices.
Boroughs are also now able to access funding to support with Domestic Homicide Reviews.
Pan London Domestic Violence Service
In March 2015, the first London-wide service for victims of abuse was launched. Until that point, local support for victims of domestic violence in London had been patchy and inconsistent. The new £5 million Pan-London Domestic Violence Service, now ensure that local services are co-ordinated, giving all victims access to specialist support through both Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) and other support workers.
Funded through the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), it provides additional staff where needed to plug gaps, encourage reporting and help boost conviction rates by giving victims the confidence they need to face their abusers in court, should they wish to pursue a conviction.
The service is run by a consortia led by Victim Support and including the Safer London Foundation, and has increased the number of IDVAs in London by more than a third, with 40 new advocates supporting high-risk victims and 16 additional posts directly supporting medium and low risk victims through the courts.
Working with the police, local authorities, Crown Prosecution Service and voluntary organisations they co-ordinate services for victims, providing them with practical and emotional support and helping them to access housing, financial support, counselling and healthcare as well as guiding them through the criminal justice process where charges are brought.
They also focus on supporting more victims from BME communities to come forward and report abuse, which is currently significantly under-reported in many communities.
The Pan London Domestic Violence Service was commissioned via a competitive process and the service specification and other documents relating to the commissioning process can be found at the bottom of this page.
Rape Crisis Centres and London Havens
MOPAC currently contributes £1,240,000 to fund four separate service providers to deliver Rape Crisis Centres in London.
The Rape Crisis Centres (RCCs) offer counselling, outreach, advocacy and helpline support to women affected by sexual violence.
The centres have been a huge success and continue to ensure that women and girls across London have access to sexual violence provision.
RCCs work alongside the Havens to meet the needs of victims that choose to report to the police. Havens offer a specialist service that supports forensic evidence gathering for men and women who have recently been raped, the service also offers support and psychiatric support.
In 2014/15, £1,949,000 million was transferred from the MPS to MOPAC to support the provision of London Havens. This funding was matched by NHS England London who directly commission King’s College Trust to provide services in the three Havens.
In total, MOPAC contributes over £3,189,000 towards sexual violence service provision and has committed to invest in both Rape Crisis Centres and Havens.
Havens vs Rape Crisis Centres
A Haven is a Sexual Assault Referral Centre which offer specialist medical and forensic services for anyone who has been raped or sexually assaulted. These differ form a Rape Crisis Centres in that they only offer immediate to short term support for male and female victims.
These key differences can be seen as
RCCs focus on:
- supporting victims who have experienced sexual violence at any point in their lives
- responding to recent and historic sexual assault
- providing long-term survivor-led support, including advocacy
- working on awareness raising and prevention
- training
SARCs focus on:
- improving forensic response to victims
- responding to recent sexual assault
- providing health and medical checks and crisis intervention
- providing short-term counselling and advocacy in some cases
- referring out to other specialised and community-based organisations
Harmful Practices Pilot
As part of the London Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy MOPAC is committed to tackling Harmful Practices in the capital. This includes violent acts such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), faith based abuse, forced marriage and honour based violence.
In July 2014, a two year Harmful Practices Pilot Initiative was agreed. This Pilot works across health, education, the voluntary sector and criminal justice agencies to improve the way we identify and respond to harmful practices.
The Harmful Practices Pilot is delivered by a consortium of voluntary sector agencies called the Partnership to End Harmful Practices (PEHP) and is being delivered in five boroughs across London; Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Westminster.
Through community engagement, training for key agencies like social care and education, and recruiting specialist staff to work with victims and survivors of harmful practices, the Pilot aims to both prevent these practices from happening in the first place, as well as to support those who have tragically suffered violence.
The pilot also has a focus on enforcement and prosecutions working with the Police to explore and improve their response to Harmful Practices. There is an ambition to secure prosecutions and ensure that other interventions are being used effectively and appropriately.
Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme Fund - FGM Pilot
In December 2014 MOPAC secured funding from the Department for Education Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme Fund to create an enhanced Pilot model building on the overarching Harmful Practices Pilot to develop a specialised FGM work strand.
The FGM strand seeks to proactively prevent girls from the traumatic and life-changing process that is female genital mutilation.
The pilot works closely with health professionals to identify girls at risk pre-birth and work with families to support them to choose not to have their daughters undergo FGM.
Critical to this model is a new approach in which specialist social workers are employed within mainstream maternity care. Midwives are the most experienced practitioners dealing with victims of FGM; Social Workers have the experience of assessing risk to children and intervening with families. This model brings these things together to actively tackle the potentially devastating impact of FGM.
Domestic Homicide Reviews
As of 1 October 2014 MOPAC took over formal responsibility for the commissioning of victims' services in London. As part of our development work in preparing to take on board this role we commissioned an Independent Review of Victims' Services in London which identified female and youth victims as priorities for improved services in the capital.
As part of our initial review of current investment in services for victims of Violence Against Women and Girls we have identified that domestic homicide reviews are inconsistently funded across London, which provides an incomplete picture.
As well as being a statutory function, domestic homicide reviews are a critical partnership responsibility in order to learn lessons from these crimes. Learning can then be applied to prevent future homicides and improve the response for domestic abuse victims and their children through better intra and inter-agency working.
Download Pan London DV service specification Final.pdf
Download Appendix K Borough and Region Domestic Abuse
Download Pan London DV specification clarification QAs
Download Appendix F IDVA Literature Review.pdf
Download Appendix G MOPAC IDVA Survey 2014.pdf
Download Appendix L Islington DV referral pathway.pdf
Download Appendix L Lambeth VAWG Gaia Centre briefing.pdf
Download Appendix L Southwark VAWG Services.pdf
Download Appendix L Tower Hamlets Service Directory 2014 Updated.pdf
Download Appendix L Tower Hamlets DV1 Referral September 17 09.pdf
Download Appendix M Example Confidentiality Agreement Q 14-09-29 LAC Non Disclosure Agreement.pdf
Download Appendix N Example Information Security Schedule.pdf
Download Appendix P Generic Grant Agreement.pdf
Download Appendix Q Borough frequently asked questions.pdf
Download Appendix R Notes of meeting with potential providers.pdf
Download Appendix S Presentation given at meeting with potential providers.pdf
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