Cash will be used to fund groups who help victims with advice, counselling and therapy, reports Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

Survivors of domestic violence in London are set to benefit from a £6m funding boost announced by Sir Sadiq Khan, which will go towards grassroots community organisations providing “life-changing” support.

The mayor’s investment will be used to fund groups who help victims with housing and legal advice, counselling and specialist play therapy for children, among several other initiatives.

According to the latest data, an estimated 2.3 million people experienced domestic abuse across the UK in the year to March 2024. The figure comprised approximately 1.6 million women and 712,000 men – and stood at roughly the same overall level in the previous year.

Speaking with the Local Democracy Reporting Service at Lambeth Town Hall on Tuesday, Khan said: “The key thing that we’ve all got to do is prevention. We want to stop somebody becoming the victim of domestic abuse and violence in the first place.

“That’s got to start in school. Nobody’s born with the values that lead them to beat up their partner. So starting school in terms of healthy relationships, teaching boys how to respect girls – we’ve got to make sure we tackle misogyny.

“At the same time, we’ve got to make sure that women who are victims of domestic abuse and violence have the confidence to report it. Often, a victim will go to their GP many times before they go to the police.

“In the past, the police have not been responsive to the victims of domestic abuse. We know for those who, for example, bring forward complaints of rape, very few of those lead to convictions, so the criminal justice system needs a huge amount of improvement.”

The mayor’s additional £6m of funding forms part of his wider Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation programme, which has seen £54m invested in housing and support over the last four years.

Since the programme’s launch in 2021, more than 23,500 survivors of domestic abuse have been helped by it, according to Sir Sadiq’s team.

“We’ve got to remove the stigma when it comes to domestic abuse and violence,” the mayor said.

“I’m really pleased the government’s got a target – which I fully support – of halving the [number of] victims of violence [against women and girls] by 2034, and we’re going to support the government getting there.”

Martina Palmer, head of services at the charity Refuge, said: “Refuge is delighted to welcome a new strategy for domestic abuse safe accommodation from the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.

“Violence against women and girls (VAWG) in London remains at ‘endemic’ levels, and funding for safe accommodation for survivors is an integral part of what’s needed to make good on the government’s pledge to halve VAWG within the next decade.”

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