Nahar Choudhury, CEO of Solace
Over the last week many, including Solace, have reflected that the BBC’s Panorama: Undercover in the Police was a harrowing, but sadly, unsurprising watch. And yes, of course we were already aware of the Met’s shortcomings when it comes to violence against women and girls: too often, survivors tell us about reporting domestic abuse or sexual violence to police and not being believed, or even heard. Every day, we work under the dark cloud of statistics like less than 2 percent of police-recorded rape offences lead to a charge and a conviction. Four years on from the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa, three years on from the murder of Zara Aleena, two years on from the Casey Review: what progress has been made?
Promises have been spoken and policies developed, but women are not safer. Women do not feel safer. And, judging from this week’s Panorama, this lack of trust is valid. We have seen survey after survey, stating that women do not trust the very force that exists to protect everyone, and still, after the high-profile deaths, and the backlash, the Met doesn’t appear to be changing sufficiently or quickly enough.
The impact of the racism and anti-migrant rhetoric recorded by the BBC shows the dual impact that this abhorrent discrimination has on Black, minoritised and migrant survivors. As London’s largest provider of refuge services and support for women and children escaping domestic abuse, we work with many migrant women who face additional challenges and barriers to accessing support. All too often a survivor’s immigration status is exploited by perpetrators – women have told us about partners threatening to tell the Home Office to revoke their right to live or work in the UK, or hiding their passport to undermine visa applications.
The fact that these women, for whom approaching any authorities already comes with anxiety and fear, are seeing these views from the very officers to whom they are supposed to be able to report crimes is abhorrent. Will an officer report them to immigration too? In a climate of increasing hostility and fearmongering around migrants, evidence that the police can’t be trusted is terrifying.
But Solace will never cease being there for every survivor who needs us. In these dark days, we are eternally hopeful because we see the perseverance, courage and fortitude of the women we support. We see the commitment of our sector, and the allies who stand with us.