FWN and Tackling Violence against Women and girls
As Fabian women we know the scale of the challenge we face individually and collectively to reduce violence against women and girls. We also know that work should include men standing against this violence and all of us challenging societies approach to the normalisation of harmful online content.
Our domestic violence prevention team see at least two non-fatal strangulation cases each week in their daily safeguarding meeting. 30% of high-risk domestic abuse survivors have experienced non-fatal strangulation or suffocation.
Following my appointment as the Community Safety Executive Member at Islington Council earlier this year, I was absolutely shocked to hear about the wide prevalence of this harm. This is a serious form of abuse that can cause strokes, brain injury and other hidden consequences. Yet, due to stigma, it is not discussed enough. We need to change this. To allow more survivors to feel able to speak out and to educate about the severity of strangulation.
Islington was the first borough to provide a dedicated non-fatal strangulation clinical referral service. When the law changed in 2021, and non-fatal strangulation became illegal, we recognised there was not enough understanding of this harm amongst a range of professionals.
The need for all organisations working together, acknowledging the cross-cutting intersectionality between medical support, psychological support and criminal justice support to name a few, is significant.
Survivors can now raise this issue with a domestic violence support worker, a doctor or a council employee, and see a vascular surgeon the following week. Capturing these symptoms early on, can make all the difference. To see these cases fast tracked, makes navigating the system that little bit easier for survivors.
More than 288 people have already been referred to the specialist service, showing both the scale of the issue and the need for support. There have been strokes identified in women which they otherwise would not have been aware of, and as one survivor said: “Dr Baker, a specialist, took my symptoms very seriously and listened very carefully… I cannot thank the care enough. I sincerely want to express my gratitude for the fast urgent referral as this greatly reduced my stress regarding these symptoms.” This is how our service truly changes lives.
Islington has pioneered this work. Now, from July 2026 we are pleased that this specialist health service has expanded across Northern Central London, to include Camden, Barnet, Enfield and Haringey. But we cannot be complacent. There is still plenty that needs to be done. In the first year after strangulation became a standalone offence in England and Wales, 23,817 reports of strangulation and suffocation were made to the police.
I was delighted last week to speak on Women's Hour about the work we do in Islington to support survivors. I hope now that with the right awareness, especially following the new law that came into effect on the 6th November to prevent strangulation being depicted in pornography, we can decrease the normalisation of dangerous practices.
As one survivor rightly said, 'nothing about survivors without survivors.' Now, we look ahead to our new Islington Violence Against Women and Girls strategy, which is about to come into effect. We will keep this principle at the heart of what we do and will not rest until we tackle male violence once and for all.
(Heather Staff is Executive member for Community safety and Neighbourhoods in Islington)
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