Domestic violence advocates at charity Solace successfully beat job cuts this year. Tower Hamlets Socialist Party member, Skye Mincher, reports her discussion with one of the workers.
The independent domestic violence advocate I spoke to told me that she provides intervention support for victims and survivors over a three-month period, and also advises on issues service users may be facing, such as housing, finances, benefits etc.
Often, Solace workers advocate for the service user to other organisations, such as local authorities, GPs, police, and social services. Their main role being to make sure these organisations are being proactive in helping those in need of support.
This is an extremely important job. They are already under extreme pressure.
The proposed cuts would’ve left one third of the workers jobless. It would’ve inhibited even more victims and survivors from receiving the help that they need.
The Solace worker said that the charity had a £174,000 deficit. She said that Solace blamed council cuts.
Who is to blame?
Tower Hamlets council is run by the independent Aspire party, which has introduced popular policies, like free school meals. Back in February, when the workers first proposed strikes, the council stated that it had not cut funding. But, since then, the workers’ campaign has forced the Aspire council to cover the missing funding.
The domestic violence advocates worked with their union, United Voices of the World (UVW), to organise two protests against Solace, and also propose strikes. The latter, luckily, didn’t have to take place.
The worker I spoke to said that her and her team reached out to UVW, which proposed these ideas. These measures were extremely important for the withdrawal of cuts. This highlights the importance of unions for workers, to enable them to have a voice.
The Solace worker said that they were in shock when cuts were announced. “It was two and a half weeks warning, and we were either going to be there or not.”
They weren’t just worried about their jobs. They had service users to think about.
“We would most likely have to start turning people away. When a service hits full capacity, it puts a strain on the remaining workers, and puts people in danger.”
Commenting on the withdrawal of cuts, she said that Solace has said the funding had been “secured”. But there has been no official statement on the plan moving forward.
‘It’s worth fighting’
“Don’t take anything as face value. There is always something worth fighting for, big or small. As long as it’s important to you and the people around you, then it’s definitely worth fighting for. And join a union.”
“The goal is that one day the system supports victims and survivors so well that we’re not required to be there. So, we fight for our jobs now.
But, hopefully, one day, we won’t have to. Because we won’t be needed.”
We are happy that the Solace workers have won. We are ready to fight alongside them against future cuts, and as part of the wider battle to end gender-based violence.
