Publications

Women who are experiencing domestic abuse are nearly three times as likely to develop mental illness – new research published

Academics at the University of Birmingham have identified a significant association between mental illness and domestic abuse in UK women.

Up until now, there has been confusion whether the mental illness or the abuse came first and very few previous studies have been able to demonstrate the direction of the relationship.

This new study is the first of its kind in the UK to clearly show that the relationship runs both ways and the key findings were:

Report launch: Benefits or barriers? Making social security work for survivors of violence and abuse across the UK’s four nations

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Aspects of the social security system undermine the UK Government’s Domestic Abuse Bill.

Economic abuse is included in a statutory definition of abuse in the draft Domestic Abuse Bill; but the Bill’s potential is undermined by aspects of the benefits system that give additional scope for abusers to misuse benefits (e.g. the Universal Credit single payment) and by failing to meet survivors’ needs.

Read the full report here.

Stress and Anxiety at Work: Personal or Cultural?

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It's Mental Health Awareness Week and Acas has today published the results of a new poll on workplace stress and anxiety.

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Here are some key findings:

· 60% of employees who have felt stressed or anxious in the last year attribute this to their workload

· 42% said it was due to how they are managed

· 35% said that balancing work and home life was responsible

More than 4,000 women with mental health problems to benefit from peer support – Agenda

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Women across England and Wales will get vital mental health support as part of a major new programme launched by mental health charity Mind and Agenda, the alliance for women and girls at risk.

The £1.8 million programme, called Women Side by Side, will increase the availability of high quality, community-based peer support for women through around 70 projects delivered by specialist organisations across the country.

Brexit risks ‘turning the clock back on gender equality’ – Women’s Budget Group

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The first independent report looking at the economic impact of Brexit on women has today been published by the Women’s Budget Group and the Fawcett Society. The report shows the economic impact of Brexit will hit women hard, leading to lost jobs, cuts to services and a squeeze on family budgets.

Women are bearing the brunt of the Government’s inaction on social care

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Women are bearing the brunt of the Government’s inaction on social care, says Age UK, with ‘sandwich carers’ especially badly hit

On International Women’s Day 2019 Age UK warns that women are generally being hurt the most by the lack of care and support

‘Sandwich carers’ are under particular pressure and most (68%) are women

This International Women’s Day marks the 2nd anniversary of the Government’s broken promise to fix social care with a Green Paper

Life-Changing & Life-Saving: Funding for the women’s sector

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This is a report about the status of funding for the women’s sector. It sets out the case for specialist women’s organisations, identifies their current sources
of funding and explores the challenges that they face in terms of financial sustainability. The report explores recent changes in the funding landscape for voluntary organisations, including the shi to commissioning of services, the impact of austerity on the demand for support services and on funding available, and the likely impact that Brexit is going to have on the women’s sector.