A deep dive into the role of ‘By and For’ services, the structural inequalities that shape their funding, and the consequences of failing to invest in the organisations best placed to support victim-survivors.
Specialist ‘by and for’ services are central to supporting Black, minoritised and migrant women – yet the government’s VAWG Strategy fails to commit to the funding needed to sustain them.
This piece examines the role of these services, the structural inequalities that shape their funding, and the consequences of failing to invest in the organisations best placed to support victim-survivors.
What are ‘By and For’ Services?
‘By and for’ organisations are services run, led and governed by Black, minoritised and migrant women, providing specialist support to victim-survivors from these communities.
Often rooted within the communities they serve, these organisations provide tailored, culturally informed support, including support in women’s own languages. They also play a critical role in helping victim-survivors access safe housing and navigate statutory systems including the police, the wider criminal justice system, immigration processes, social services and healthcare.
Beyond service provision, ‘by and for’ organisations act as a vital anchor at the point when women seek to escape abuse and rebuild their lives.
Research confirms what SBS and others have long known: 67% of victim-survivors prefer ‘by and for’ services over larger, non-specialist providers.[1]
Why They Matter
For Black, minoritised and migrant women, access to support is shaped not only by experiences of abuse, but by wider structural inequalities, including racism, immigration control, language barriers and economic marginalisation.
‘By and for’ services are uniquely equipped to respond to these intersecting forms of disadvantage. Their expertise is not incidental – it is central to delivering effective, safe and trusted support.
The effectiveness of the VAWG Strategy will therefore depend not only on policy commitments, but on whether these specialist services are properly resourced to deliver support in practice.
The Funding Crisis
Despite their critical role, ‘by and for’ organisations remain chronically underfunded. Research shows that women and girls’ organisations received just over 2% of total UK charity income – £1.3 billion – in the financial year ending 2021. Within this already limited share, funding is heavily concentrated, with a disproportionate amount going to a small number of large, mainstream organisations. Just 0.1% of organisations accounted for 39% of the sector’s total income.[2]
This broader pattern of funding concentration is reflected across the violence against women and girls (VAWG) sector and disproportionately affects specialist ‘by and for’ services supporting Black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors. These organisations are six times less likely to receive statutory funding, despite being recognised as highly effective.[3]
This chronic underfunding is widely recognised across the sector, with specialist ‘by and for’ organisations both the most under-resourced and the most likely to be supporting complex high-risk cases.
The scale of the funding gap is significant. As of 2021, specialist ‘by and for’ servicessupporting Black and minoritised women were assisting129,765survivors each year whilst operating with a funding shortfall of 39%[4]
Structural Barriers in Commissioning
Funding inequalities are not accidental – they are driven by commissioning and procurement systems that systematically disadvantage smaller, specialist organisations.
Commercial tendering processes often require complex, resource-intensive applications that demand time, infrastructure and staffing capacity that many community-based organisations simply do not have. For organisations already operating with limited resources, these processes create significant barriers to accessing funding.
These structural barriers are further compounded by funding criteria that fail to reflect how specialists ‘by and for’ organisations operate in practice. Funding criteria that limit organisations’ ability to participate in multiple applications or partnerships disproportionately affect these services, which often rely on collaborative approaches to secure funding. For many smaller, community-based organisations, this is not a strategic choice, but a necessity driven by chronic underfunding and the need to pool limited resources. Such criteria risk excluding the very organisations that are most embedded within and trusted by the communities they serve.
At the same time, short-term funding cycles force organisations to compete for limited resources rather than enabling long-term, collaborative provision of support. This undermines stability, continuity of care, and the ability of services to meet growing demand.
Geography further compounds these inequalities. Nearly half of all specialist ‘by and for’ services supporting minoritised women are concentrated in London and the South-East of England[5], leaving significant gaps in provision across the regions.
This results in funding decisions that systematically favour larger, geographically centralised, non-specialist providers, sidelining specialist ‘by and for’ organisations best placed to support Black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors. The impact is felt most acutely by Black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors, particularly those with No Recourse to Public Funds.
Consequences for Victim-Survivors
These funding failures have direct and immediate consequences for victim-survivors’ ability to access safety and support.
When specialist services are underfunded or unavailable, women are less able to access the support they trust and need. This can result in delayed help-seeking, unmet needs, and increased risk of harm.
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner highlighted the gap between demand and provision, noting that only 51% of Black and minoritised victim-survivors who wished to access ‘by and for’ services were able to do so.[6]
This is not a marginal issue – it is a systemic failure that leaves some of the most vulnerable women without access to appropriate support.
The VAWG Strategy and Funding Failures
Despite overwhelming evidence, the government’s VAWG Strategy fails to commit to ring-fenced funding for specialist ‘by and for’ services.
This omission is significant. Without dedicated, long-term funding, these organisations remain in a state of precarity, unable to meet demand or sustain provision.
The Strategy’s effectiveness will ultimately depend on whether the services best placed to support Black, minoritised and migrant women are properly resourced. Without this, the Strategy risks failing those most in need.
The Case for Ring-Fenced Funding
Ring-fenced funding for specialist ‘by and for’ services must be prioritised as a central component of the government’s approach to tackling violence against women and girls.
This should align with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s recommendations, including:
Sustainable, long-term funding would enable these organisations to deliver consistent, high-quality support and respond effectively to the needs of the communities they serve.
SBS’s cost-benefit analysis[8] demonstrates that investing in specialist support for migrant victim-survivors is not only necessary but economically sound, with early intervention reducing long-term costs to public services, with estimated savings from investing in ‘by and for’ services being over £40 million a year.
This is particularly urgent in the context of an increasingly hostile immigration environment, which continues to heighten the risk, deepen vulnerability, and increase case complexity for migrant victim-survivors.
Without this investment, specialist ‘by and for’ services will remain under-resourced, and the gaps in provision will continue to widen.
Conclusion
We cannot achieve a meaningful response to violence against women and girls while the very services most trusted by Black, minoritised and migrant women remain underfunded and undervalued.
Without ring-fenced, long-term funding, the government’s VAWG Strategy risks undermining the organisations best placed to deliver safety, support and justice.
We will continue to call for life-saving, sustainable funding for specialist ‘by and for’ services, and for the recognition of their essential role in tackling violence against women and girls.
