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23 December 2010
At this morning’s Scottish Government debate on Violence against Women, Alex Neil the Minister for Housing and Communities, announced that three vital funds will be retained at their current level in the next financial year.
Prior to the announcement it had been thought that many services for women and children would be cut. 40 Women's Aid groups around the country faced an average loss of 40% of their funding. A number of rape crisis centres were facing the possibility of either closure or severe restriction of their services. These services have now been safeguarded.
The announcement came as very welcome news to Lily Greenan, Manager of Scottish Women's Aid. She said:
"We have worked closely with Rape Crisis Scotland and with local Women's Aid and Rape Crisis groups around Scotland over the last few months gathering support for the continuation of this funding from the Scottish Government. Today we are all extremely grateful to the MSPs, local politicians and members of the public who have played their part in making this happen.
Sandy Brindley, National Coordinator of Rape Crisis Scotland, welcomed the announcement.
"Sexual violence can have a devastating impact and it is crucial that survivors throughout Scotland have access to specialised services. If Scottish Government funding had been lost, rape survivors across Scotland would have found it much more difficult to access support. We believe the provision of support following sexual violence should be a basic right, and we welcome the support for this across the Parliament."
Scottish Women's Aid and Rape Crisis Scotland, while welcoming today's announcement, called for a long term funding strategy to ensure the sustainability of vital support services. Lily Greenan said:
"We still have a long way to go to ensure that women and children who experience violence are able to access support wherever and whenever they need it. We look forward to working with the Scottish Government and COSLA over the next few months to find ways to secure the future of these vital services."
More information on the Save Our Services campaign...