Our view: These are the things the new government must do if it’s serious about the welfare of women and young people

Frankly, we are desperate to be impressed by the government we’re about to elect – but we’re not sure how optimistic we should be.

Life has been so hard for so many people for so long.

It goes without saying the incoming administration must act rapidly and meaningfully on the great injustices of our time – not least the shameful failure to guarantee decent housing and timely health and social care to all.

Then, there’s the deepening poverty crisis and enduring gaps in the provision of help for those experiencing mental ill-health.

All of these things touch the lives of the women and young people who turn to The New Futures Project in their hundreds every year.

However, from where we are sitting, there is still so far to go and other areas of policy which have simply not been discussed during this campaign, namely a broad range of issues relating to women’s welfare and safety.

Our director, Della Kagure Brown challenged the new administration to address the epidemic of sexual violence, domestic abuse and exploitation so many experience because the criminal justice system – the police, the courts and the prisons – is failing women in so many ways.

Also, can we expect action, urgent action, on the creeping culture of misogyny?

In coming up with our list of policy areas crying out to be addressed, we turned first to women who use our drop-in service.

These are some of the most vulnerable – also remarkable and resilient – clients we see here.

Here in no particular order are their suggestions. 

• We need more homeless shelters and safe places for people to stay – especially at weekends and at night.

• More food banks are essential and need to be more accessible.

• Could people on benefits could be offered bus/train passes?

• We need volunteering opportunities so we can gain work experience and college courses for 

• Could vulnerable people be offered help to pay for driving lessons?

• We need access to emergency doctors and dentists and reduced NHS waiting times.

• Leicester needs a wider network of places with lockers for homeless people to store their property.

• More support for domestic abuse victims is vital.

• More widespread access to free legal advice would benefit many of us.

• The new government should create more jobs so people wouldn’t have to engage in sex work.

• Local services should be able to provide tents and clothing to those who need them.

• There should be more outreach programmes to help homeless people, ensuring they have access to food and drink. 

  
  

We’ve written about the legislative changes needed to make life better for women who are involved in sex work here on our website.

Della added: “My hope is that whoever wins the election spends some time thinking through the situation of women in prison.

“We spend so long helping clients with housing, benefits and encouraging them to make positive changes. A term in prison can be badly timed and result in all that work being undone.

“For women who have children, a prison sentence will often result in the break-up of their family – and that is a cruel additional punishment.”

Other members of staff here at the project have put their heads together to come up policies they would like to see enacted.

Carl Martin, our direct services manager, said: “Issues with housing are affecting the nation from the top down. 

“That’s young people who may never be able to buy a home and people who simply cannot afford to rent suitable housing who are being held to ransom by landlords and the complete lack of social housing.

“The key issues for our clients are the lack of social housing and where there is provision it is often sub-standard and leads to poor physical and mental health.

“Then there is the lack of shelter for those who are homeless – in  a city where we know there are at least 500 ‘rough sleepers’ there is one hostel.”

That hostel, The Dawn Centre, in Conduit Street, has 42 rooms, including two double rooms, and six rooms for disabled people. There is also flat for people with complex needs.

Carl added: “More importantly there is a complete lack of specialist provision for women who are often forced to enter a hostel where there are perpetrators present. 

“Although not a housing issue, there are also not enough refuge spaces for women escaping domestic abuse as these have continued to be closed down. 

“All of this requires immediate attention and investment and there is no time left for excuses.”

Usmarn Hussain (our charity administrator) said gaps in mental health support and the tendency for people to fall between those gaps must be addressed.

He said: “Most of the mental health professionals and resources are in the crisis teams and to see a crisis team you typically need to be suicidal or harming yourself.

“So there is this huge gaping grey area where you either need to be a simple case with signs of low depression or low anxiety with no risk associated to you harming yourself in anyway to access short-term support. 

“Or you go down the path of that short-term support turning you away for being too complex and then becoming suicidal as a result of no support as time goes on and ending up in front of a crisis team, suicidal.

“It’s a vicious cycle and the support the crisis team’s offer is also short-term, we’re talking 6 weeks and that isn’t enough time to bring yourself back to place of ‘good’ mental health.

“So a person can end up in front of a crisis team multiple times in just one year. What needs to happen is the grey area being filled with long-term support like counselling for people with risk levels of none to medium risk.

“That way there is mental health support for the whole spectrum and not just either extreme.”

As we said earlier, we are desperate to be impressed.

The New Futures Project was set up more than 20 years ago to support women involved in sex work.

However, we have evolved into a comprehensive welfare and counselling service for women and young people dealing with sexual abuse or exploitation, domestic violence, trafficking, poverty and debt, substance use or mental ill-health.

Call us on 0116 251 0803 or send us a message at: info@new-futures.org.uk

You can find us at 71 London Road, Leicester, LE2 0PE.

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