“I tell you what freedom is to me. No fear.” – SBS service user
“Women are so strong even after defeat.” – SBS service user
“Without women, world is nothing. Respect all women if you think you are a real hero.” – SBS service user
“We are women. We are united. We are strong. We are powerful. 2025!! Accelerate the action.” – SBS service user
“Government knows it all. We need ACTION.” – SBS service user
Violence against women and girls is an epidemic with profound and lasting individual and societal impact. This is borne disproportionately by Black, minoritised and migrant women and girls who encounter additional structural barriers to support, such as institutional racism and the No Recourse to Public Funds condition.
At Southall Black Sisters, we provide life-saving specialist support and campaign for the rights of women and girls from these marginalised communities.
International Women’s Day is an annual reminder of the progress we’ve made, but also the fight that continues. The theme for this year is ‘Accelerate Action’. To ensure that progress towards gender equality and improved accountability for violence against women and girls does not leave behind Black, minoritised and migrant women and girls, we are calling on the government to –
End the discrimination against migrant women and girls to accelerate action.
Extend the right to access public funds and settlement to all migrant victim-survivors and establish a firewall to accelerate action.
Abolish No Recourse to Public Funds to accelerate action.
Introduce Banaz’s Law, a statutory aggravating factor for ‘honour’-based abuse, to accelerate action.
Introduce an offence of manslaughter due to domestic abuse so we can better recognise and link domestic abuse and suicide and accelerate action.
Eradicate institutional racism in policing to accelerate action.
Ring-fence sufficient and sustainable funding for community-based ‘by and for’ services to accelerate action.
In our International Women’s Day celebrations with the peer-to-peer support group, service users also called on the government to –
Recognise that all women should be treated as equals to accelerate action.
Ensure intersectional needs are accounted for to accelerate action.
End No Recourse to Public Funds to accelerate action.
Guarantee justice for asylum seekers to accelerate action.
Keep an eye on the police to accelerate action.
Alter the perception of women and women’s issues in politics to accelerate action.
Invest in education with an emphasis on tackling harmful attitudes towards women and girls to accelerate action.
Undertake measures to reduce the impact of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis to accelerate action.
Extend more financial support to charities such as Southall Black Sisters to accelerate action.
This International Women’s Day, please support our vital work. We welcome your donations and participation in our campaigns.
Donate to Southall Black Sisters. Please mention ‘IWD 2025’ in the transfer reference when making the donation.
