Violence against women and girls and its consequences for minoritised women is often reduced to specific issues such as forced marriage, female genital mutilation and 'honour based' violence. This creates siloed policy and restricted practice responses. It also reinforces 'cultural' explanations and narratives that fuel racism and prevent nuanced discussion and understanding of patterns in gender-based violence, the support minoritised women need, and the barriers they face in accessing this support.

At the same time, specialised services run by and for black and minoritized women are significantly under-resourced, with the majority of commissioned work going to generalist services. For the 12 years up to 2020, an average of 1 specialist service was decommissioned each year. Yet, all evidence shows how much more effective outcomes are when minoritized women are able to access specialist services.

Latin American Women's Aid runs the only refuges in Europe and in the UK by and for Latin American women and children fleeing gender-based violence. They also offer holistic and overlapping services, which aim to support black and minoritised women to recover from abuse and live empowered lives.

Treebeard is providing core, multi-year support to LAWA.