Women's Aid: 2010s to 2024

2010
• Women’s Aid launched the ‘Real Man’ campaign, asking men and women to help to send out the message that ‘Real Men’ do not abuse and control women. It featured a range of high-profile male celebrities, and politicians, including the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Opposition Leader were asked to sign the ‘Real Man’ pledge to mark International Day Against Violence Against Women on 25 November.

2011
• Women’s Aid released the campaign ‘Save Survivors’ Services’ to coincide with the centenary of International Women's Day on 8 March. The campaign called for urgent, targeted support to 500 local Women's Aid refuges and other domestic violence services that were at risk of severe cuts in their funding from local government authorities. The call to take action included lobbying MPs and taking part in Facebook and Twitter campaigns. On 7 March Women's Aid published the findings of a survey conducted amongst local member services on the potential impact of the proposed funding cuts. 

2012
• The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 created two new offences of stalking and stalking involving fear of violence or causing serious alarm or distress. This followed on from the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, within which victims of stalking still felt that they were not taken seriously by the criminal justice system.

2015
• Women’s Aid helped to develop and supported the launch of the Femicide Census, which is established as the leading independent record of fatal violence committed by men against women in the UK every year. Since 2016 Jess Phillips MP has, on International Women’s Day, read out the names of UK women killed by men in the last year in Parliament.

2021
• In April, the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 was introduced. The Act made it a statutory duty to house victims of domestic abuse and gave the Domestic Abuse Commissioner the power to bring about change and hold agencies to account. It also meant that perpetrators will no longer be allowed to cross-examine their victims in the family courts. Following years of campaigning from Women’s Aid and other third-sector organisations, the Act also finally recognised children and young people as victims of domestic abuse in their own right.

2024
• The 3-year Wellcome Trust-funded project to catalogue and make available the Women’s Aid Federation of England Archive at the University of Leeds Special Collections will be completed.
• Women’s Aid created merchandise to celebrate their 50th anniversary, using designs inspired by badges and postcards found in their archive.
• Women’s Aid will celebrate their 50th anniversary with a ‘Festival of Women’s Aid’ at their National Conference in Birmingham in July, looking back on 50 years of dedication to protecting women and children from domestic violence.

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