By Marie Vickers, Head of Domestic Abuse Services, SignHealth
Despite a growing awareness of domestic abuse and ambitious plans to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), support for deaf victims and survivors remains limited.
At SignHealth, we are the UK’s largest and most comprehensive by-and-for deaf domestic abuse service, offering all our support in British Sign Language. We are immensely proud of the work that we and other organisations do, built on culturally and linguistically appropriate foundations.
But there is always more to do, more services to provide, and more people to help. Our new report, commissioned by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, has identified gaps in service provision for deaf victims and survivors. And sadly, there are many such gaps.
Access to services for deaf victims is the ultimate postcode lottery. There are no funded by-and-for services located specifically in parts of the Southwest or North of England, or in Wales. While the support of the Home Office has allowed SignHealth to expand there are still large regional gaps. Put simply, the current funding model is not meeting the needs of deaf victims and survivors. And we know that deaf domestic abuse funding streams are inconsistent, often increasing the existing geographic disparities.
This is all the more frustrating because when properly funded and supported, by-and-for services can be really successful. The number of people who leave a by-and-for deaf domestic abuse service before they are ready is exceptionally low. Once a deaf victim or survivor is able to get culturally appropriate support in BSL, they do not want to stop that support. One survivor told us that when she received domestic abuse advice in BSL for the first time it “opened my eyes and taught me so much.”
Mainstream services provide exemplary care, but the very specific needs of deaf victims and survivors are best met at a by-and-for service. We estimate that deaf women stay in mainstream refuges for an average of 8.5 months, more than twice the national average, something that can be attributed to communication and cultural barriers.
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s recent report, Victims in their own right? notes that only one-in-10 mainstream organisations referred deaf children to specialist deaf domestic abuse services. We estimate the figure to be similar for adults.
So, what can be done? The upcoming Spending Review provides the perfect opportunity for Government to invest in by-and-for domestic abuse services. This should include all marginalised groups across disability, gender, sex and ethnic backgrounds.
Our report has four key recommendations:
- Refine and review the commissioning framework
We believe a national specialist service for the deaf community should be created which could provide UK-wide care across all regions and nations. Additionally, tendering procedures should include criteria for providers to meet the needs of deaf victims and survivors and there should be the provision of perpetrator programmes for deaf people – currently there are none.
- Accessible communication infrastructure
It is vital that services invest in technology and communication infrastructure such as Video Relay Interpreting to ensure that deaf victims and survivors can communicate when in mainstream services or when contacting emergency services.
- Training
There should be deaf awareness training within the domestic abuse sector – from commissioners to management to frontline staff. Existing resources about deaf victims and survivors should also be reviewed and updated to ensure information is accurate.
- Inclusive design
Refuges, emergency accommodation and other housing should ensure these are accessible to all – including deaf victims and survivors. Wherever possible new or expanded services should be the result of co-design with the deaf community, so that they meet our needs.
In 2023/24 we supported over 170 clients. We know that many other deaf victims and survivors were supported by other regional by-and-for deaf services. But domestic abuse in the deaf community continues. We know that deaf women are twice as likely to experience domestic abuse compared to their hearing peers. And deaf children are three times as likely.
There is much to be done. The UK government has promised to halve VAWG. We support that goal. But it is vital that deaf women and girls are included in that process. With an increased investment in by-and-for services, a more refined approach to commissioning and a greater focus on accessibility and training, we believe that goal can be achieved.