Solace domestic violence charity workers rally in Tower Hamlets (Picture: Guy Smallman)
Domestic violence workers in east London are getting ready to make history.
UVW union members at Solace, a domestic violence support charity, are due to begin an indefinite strike next Friday, 14 February. It will be the first indefinite strike of domestic violence workers in Britain.
On Thursday night, a spirited rally outside Tower Hamlets town hall in Whitechapel brought together hundreds of workers, trade unionists and local residents.
Charity bosses are threatening to sack a third of the Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs)—over half of the team’s jobs are on the line.
Workers are calling for an end to the job cuts, and for their UVW union to be recognised at Solace.
Solace worker Syeda, who’s worked in the sector for ten years, told Socialist Worker, “The whole team is standing together although my job is not affected.
“We are definitely making history but we are making history for the right reasons—for the community we work in, for the community we support.
“Without IDVAs there will be many, many victims of domestic violence and abuse that would have nowhere to go.”
In Tower Hamlets, domestic violence services are outsourced to Solace, a major charity in the sector.
Abu Talha Chowdhury, council cabinet member for safer communities, spoke at the rally. He said it was “not acceptable” that Solace was slashing jobs when the council funding remained the same.
The cut is not only devastating to the worker—it smashes apart a vital service that saves lives. And workers are already struggling under ever-increasing caseloads.
Syeda said, “They say we’re not at full capacity at the moment but we still struggle with the cases because there’s high demand in the community.
“We want to know where the money is going and why these cuts are happening”.
Tower Hamlets has the highest poverty rate, the highest unemployment rate and the highest premature death rate of any borough in London. Some 48 percent of children living in the borough are in poverty.
Poverty and insecure housing contribute to keeping victims in abusive situations. The further weakening of support services will only deepen the crisis in a borough with the second-highest rates of domestic abuse in the capital.
Isabel Cortes, UVW assistant general secretary, told the rally, “These cuts are going to rip services from some of London’s most vulnerable communities. These cuts aren’t just numbers—they’re lives being impacted.
“When migrant workers and marginalised communities rise, we all rise. The power is not in the hands of the bosses. It’s in our hands, the hands of organised workers and those who refuse to be silenced.”
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