Women’s Aid organisations across the Highlands are raising urgent concerns about a potentially devastating funding proposal from Highland Council that could fundamentally dismantle critical support services for women and children experiencing domestic abuse.
The proposed funding model threatens to replace multiple localised Women’s Aid groups with a single, centralised service provider across the entire Highland region.
Current Women’s Aid groups—including those in Inverness, Lochaber, Ross-shire, Skye, Caithness, and Sutherland—collectively support over 1,000 women and 250 children annually, providing essential, often life-saving interventions.
The proposed procurement strategy risks eliminating decades of specialised, local expertise in supporting domestic abuse survivors, with organisations warning that a one-size-fits-all approach fundamentally misunderstands the complex nature of gender-based violence.
Geographical challenges present significant barriers to effective service delivery, with some Women’s Aid groups currently travelling nearly 30,000 miles annually to provide crucial outreach support across vast, sparsely populated areas.
Local managers emphasise that their services are not just support networks but lifelines for vulnerable individuals, with intimate knowledge of local communities and established professional connections that cannot be replicated by a centralised model.
The proposed funding structure threatens to reduce funding for women-specific services while potentially redirecting resources, despite women constituting the clear majority of domestic abuse victims.
Scottish Women’s Aid CEO Dr Marsha Scott highlighted the critical importance of maintaining grassroots services, stating that women and children cannot bear the burden of local government financial challenges.
These dedicated organisations are urgently calling on Highland Council to reconsider the proposed funding model and engage in transparent discussions that prioritise survivor safety and support.
The potential loss of these specialised services represents more than an administrative restructure—it threatens the very safety network that has protected countless women and children from domestic violence.
