Social factors that influence health

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and domestic abuse

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and domestic abuse can take many forms and both have a devastating impact on the victim and their families.

VAWG involves any act of gender–based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women. This includes threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, as well as harmful practices such as forced marriage, female genital mutilation, and other crimes committed in the name of ‘honour’.

Domestic abuse is a specific type of VAWG but may also affect men. It is defined as any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between current or previous intimate partners or family members aged over 16, regardless of gender or sexuality. This can include physical, sexual, psychological, emotional and financial abuse.

Recorded offences for crimes related to VAWG and domestic abuse, as well as referrals to Southwark’s specialist Domestic Abuse Service, are increasing year-on-year. However, these issues likely affect far more women than the data tell us due to under-reporting.

Southwark Council together with key partners and stakeholders have produced many documents identifying the local population’s needs. These will be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that efforts to tackle VAWG and domestic abuse in Southwark remain evidence-based and responsive to the needs of the community.

Southwark JSNA reports

• Female Genital Mutilation JSNA 2023 ^{(PDF, 1.1mb)}

Other local plans and strategies

• Southwark domestic abuse strategy 2015 to 2020 ^{(PDF, 1mb)}
• Southwark female genital mutilation guidance document for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults

External resources

• OHID, Wider Determinants of Health: Southwark Profile
• NICE, Domestic violence and abuse: how services can respond effectively
• Home Office, Female genital mutilation: resource pack, 2016
• NHS Digital, Female genital mutilation datasets

Page last updated: 02 November 2023