17.01.2025 / Press releases / Solace

Workers at Solace Women’s Aid set to strike to save Tower Hamlets’ domestic abuse support services

• Domestic violence advisers in Tower Hamlets are balloting to strike over significant redundancies, which threatens critical domestic abuse support services
• Tower Hamlets has the second-highest level of domestic abuse cases in London. Cutting the team of charity Solace Women’s Aid by a third will severely impact vulnerable people, predominantly women, and the quality of essential services
• Solace workers, members of United Voices of the World Union (UVW), are fighting to continue providing life-saving support and need urgent community and council support
• Solace workers are calling on Tower Hamlets Council to intervene and safeguard these crucial services. 

Independent domestic violence advisers from Solace Women’s Aid in Tower Hamlets, who are members of UVW, are balloting to strike over significant and imminent redundancies, jeopardising the critical support services provided to vulnerable residents, especially women, across the borough. The proposed redundancies will cut the team by a third.

Tower Hamlets ranks second-highest in London for domestic abuse cases, almost 70% of the victims of which are female, with one in three women and girls experiencing gender based violence in their lifetime. Between April and December 2024 alone, the Solace team managed 1,139 referrals and supported 227 victim-survivors. The proposed staff reductions could leave countless individuals without essential, life-saving support during their most vulnerable times.

Solace workers are calling on Tower Hamlets Council to intervene and safeguard these crucial services. Backed by UVW, who has previously been in dispute with Solace, the workers are determined to fight these job cuts and continue their vital work for the community.

The Solace workers provide emotional support, safety planning, risk assessments and advocate with police, social services and housing. Their work empowers survivors to rebuild their lives. The team tackles systemic barriers, helping survivors navigate immigration restrictions, financial challenges and legal hurdles. They connect survivors with solicitors, manage homicide risks with professionals and ensure every step is consent-based.

Tower Hamlets is also the most densely populated borough in England and at 34.6% the largest Bangladeshi population in England and Wales and has the second-highest proportion of children living in absolute low-income families in London, following the City of London.

The Solace team urges the public to support their campaign to protect these indispensable services to the local community.

One of the Solace workers and UVW members, who wishes to speak anonymously, said: 

“Realistically, there will be less people we are able to support and considering the risks of domestic violence in Tower Hamlets I think that cutting by a third is just going to be a massive hit to the community. There aren’t that many other places that need as much support as this borough in London.  It will have a big effect on some people’s kind of last hope or last lifeline. We support a lot of women – and not just women – we support a lot of people for whom we are their last hope in some instances, so I think it will have a massive effect. I don’t think really the people that have made these decisions have realised the gravity of the effect it will have. I can only assume it’s because they are very removed from what we actually do.  People making these decisions are not, I guess, directly involved in the work we do so it’s probably hard for them to realise the gravity of it. I would ask the Council what justifies cutting our team by a third, domestic violence rates haven’t dropped by a third to validate cutting our team by a third.  Unless they’re planning on accepting less referrals or reducing the amount of cases we  hold as a service, then we’re going to be spread even thinner than we currently are so I don’t really understand how they plan to implement those potential redundancies without a severe impact whether it be on the community or on the stuff that remain, somebody’s going to be taking the brunt of this.”

Another Solace worker and UVW member, said: 

“I would say it’s important that people understand that we’re here and that domestic abuse, violence against women and girls is a national concern around the UK. It’s an emergency, a national emergency. I think people need to understand that this funding, wherever it comes from, is extremely important. I believe that the staff at Solace Women’s Aid do amazing work. We support so many people when they have nowhere to go and we do this every day.  I think that there should be more conversations about the service and that WE also sometimes need support. People need to know about us for us to get that support as well. I also want other charity workers to know that they, you know, they also deserve to feel supported. It can be an isolating job and it can be difficult. People need to know about us for us to get that support as well. I also want other charity workers to know that they, you know, they also deserve to feel supported. It can be an isolating job and it can be difficult.”

Isabel Cortes, assistant general secretary for United Voices of the World, said:

“Tower Hamlets cannot turn its back on survivors of domestic abuse. Cutting this team by a third is not just a funding decision, it’s a death sentence for countless women and families who rely on these life-saving services. This is not simply about protecting jobs, it is about protecting justice and ensuring the most vulnerable members of our community are not abandoned. Domestic abuse is a national emergency and Tower Hamlets council has a duty to act to safeguard those who are most at risk. To fail them now would be to fail our collective responsibility to protect and support those in their darkest moments. The Solace workers are a lifeline for survivors of domestic abuse. Their work saves lives.”

For more information contact the UVW comms team.

Jim: 07749 765264
Cristina: 07548 759340
Isabel: 07706 987443

E-mail: comms@uvwunion.org.uk  

Notes for editors

United Voices of the World is an anti-racist, member-led, direct action, campaigning trade union and we exist to support and empower the most vulnerable groups of precarious, low-paid and predominantly BAME and migrant workers in the UK. We fight the bosses through direct action on the streets and through the courts and demand that all members receive at least the London Living Wage, full pay, sick pay, dignity, equality and respect.

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