Joined Up advocacy

In Hertfordshire, under the current commissioning arrangements, we have multiple services supporting survivors of different forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) at different risk levels.

At present, if someone is subjected to domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and stalking, they could be supported by an Independent Domestic Violence Advisor ("IDVA") for the domestic abuse, an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor ("ISVA") for the sexual abuse, and an Independent Stalking Advice Caseworker ("ISAC") for the stalking, as well as possibly other community outreach support services. Their support service could also change as their risk levels change.

This can be understandably overwhelming and confusing for survivors and result in them having to tell their experience over and over again. There is also likely to be some duplication of work that is happening across those services. As risk is dynamic and due to the intersecting nature of VAWG, consideration is being given to the possibility of creating one VAWG advocacy service known as Joined Up Advocacy.

This would connect all risk levels and forms of VAWG under one contract. Consequently, within the Joined-Up Advocacy service, one of the current areas that is being scoped is in regard to the role of an Independent Gender Violence Advisor ("IGVA") who could provide support to all risk levels, all genders, and multiple forms of VAWG.

The expectation is that the Joined-Up Advocacy service would be a county wide service that would act as a One Front Door for those accessing support from the One Stop Shop