The Government’s new Women’s Health Strategy, led by Wes Streeting, recognises what too many women already know: the NHS has an “appalling culture of medical misogyny.”
This acknowledgment matters. It reflects the lived reality of countless women who have felt dismissed, unheard and disrespected within healthcare settings.
We look forward to welcoming Baroness Merron to Woman’s Trust to continue the conversation.
But as the strategy was unveiled, a critical issue was missing from the room.
Attended by Woman’s Trust CEO Alice Piller-Roner, the launch made no reference to violence against women and girls and offered no meaningful focus on women’s mental health beyond trauma linked to poor healthcare experiences.
We have not yet completed a full review of the strategy and will assess it carefully. But what is already clear is this: without explicit recognition of VAWG and the mental health impact of abuse, the strategy risks failing the very women it aims to support.
The omission cannot be ignored.
Domestic abuse is not a side issue in women’s health. It is a key driver of mental ill health, self-harm, and suicide.
One in four women experience domestic abuse
One in two women seeking support from Woman’s Trust are doing so because of domestic abuse
This is not marginal. It is central to women’s health outcomes.
For 30 years, Woman’s Trust has delivered specialist mental health support to women survivors of domestic abuse. Every day, we see the long-term psychological impact of abuse – trauma that does not end when the violence stops.
Yet too many women are still unable to access the support they need:
Half of women who come to us are turned away due to lack of funding
83% of survivors say counselling is their greatest unmet need
Mainstream NHS mental health services are not designed to respond to the complex and enduring trauma caused by domestic abuse. Too often, women are left cycling through crisis services, facing repeat referrals and escalating risk, without ever receiving the specialist support that could help them recover.
We welcome Wes Streeting’s call for greater collaboration with the voluntary sector. Specialist organisations like Woman’s Trust bring decades of expertise and frontline insight and we are ready to contribute.
This must be matched with meaningful investment.
Woman’s Trust is calling on the Government to commit at least £27.5 million per year to fund specialist counselling and therapeutic support for women and girls in the community.
Because without this investment, too many women will continue to be left without help and too many lives will be lost.
The Government has recognised the problem. Now it must act on the full picture of women’s health including the devastating impact of violence and abuse.
Read the Living Without Hope report
Read our Open Letter to Ministers
