Policy Officer, Community Justice Glasgow
The Scottish Government Strategy for preventing and eradicating this violence and addressing the underlying attitudes and systems that perpetuate it was refreshed in December 2023.
“The Vision for Justice in Scotland can only be fully realised when Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG) is eradicated. Until then, the commitment remains that women and girls are served appropriately. Understanding the inequalities experienced is crucial in providing justice for victim / survivors and holding perpetrators to account.”
This outlines how local partnerships, including Violence Against Women Partnerships (VAWP), Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs), Multi-Agency Public protection (MAPPA) arrangements and Community Justice Partnerships (CJPs), should work collaboratively to ensure:
“We prevent harm, and that we protect, respond to, and support the recovery of women and girls experiencing harm.”
The Violence Against Women Partnership Guidance developed by COSLA and the Scottish Government also states that “VAWPs may want to strengthen links to other local partnerships including:
- Health and Social Care Integration Joint Boards
- Public Protection Committees (i.e., Adult/Child Protection / Offender Management Committee)
- Community Safety Partnerships
- Community Justice Partnerships
- Alcohol and Drug Partnerships
This is intended to help effective communication and avoid duplication where often the same partners are involved in different local partnerships, as well as supporting consistent and complimentary objectives. The diagram (left)helps to demonstrate how Community Planning Partnerships fit in to this model via the Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP), which the Community Justice Outcomes Improvement Plan is aligned with.
This helps illustrate the importance of collaborative working to achieve both the ambitions of the Justice and Violence Against Women strategies for Scotland. Locally, we endeavour to keep these links active and meaningful. We are aligned with and report to the Glasgow Community Planning Partnership and our core staff team are members of all of the other strategic partnerships in the city. We are therefore in a position to have a strategic overview of these partnerships and use our influence to ensure relevant strategies for the city reflect the needs of those involved in Justice services.
One example of collaborative work spanning the City’s strategic partnerships is the Carter Centre collaboration, you can read about this in the article ‘Carter Centre Collaboration – Inform Women, Transform Lives’. This collaboration is working towards informing young women about domestic abuse, and the services available to support them. The Domestic Abuse Court in Glasgow Sheriff Court is another collaborative achievement of partners in Glasgow. You can find out more about this in the article ‘An Evolving Model for Domestic Abuse Courts’.
For help and support in relation to gender-based violence and abuse, the services below can help:
- ASSIST – a specialised support service linked to Glasgow’s Domestic Abuse Court that focusses on reducing the risk to and improving the safety of victims of domestic abuse. ASSIST aims to ensure that all survivors of domestic abuse – women, children and men – are safe, informed and supported throughout their involvement with the criminal justice system.
- Glasgow Women’s Aid – has been supporting women, children and young people who are experiencing Domestic Abuse for 50 years.
- Routes Out – offers a wide range of services to women involved in prostitution or those considering it.
- Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA) – provides support to women aged 18 or over who have been trafficked in Scotland for commercial sexual exploitation.
- Scotland’s Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline – 0800 027 1234.
- Archway – a specialist service in Glasgow made up of a team of experts experienced in caring for people who have been raped or sexually assaulted within the last 7 days.
- Your Support Your Way Glasgow – find out more about supports available.