Right to Resist
The Power and Resilience of the Black and minoritised ‘by and for’ VAWG Sector in a State of Funding Inequality.
State of the Sector Report 2026
Why this report and why now?
For decades, Imkaan has been showing how Black and minoritised women and girls are excluded from responses to the violence they face, and how the specialist 'by and for' organisations that keep them safe have been left underfunded.
Right to Resist is our updated evidence - and a call to change how this sector is resourced.
THE STATE OF THE SECTOR, IN NUMBERS
What do the numbers show?
→ Over half of ‘by and for’ organisations saw income fall in 2023-24.
→ Income from charitable trusts fell 36%;
only 1 in 5 funding relationships lasted three years.
→ Median grant size: £27,400.
→ One generic organisation, bidding for VAWG funding, received twice the combined income of 36 'by and for' organisations.
→ Mainstream organisations received ~6× more on average than specialist ones.
→ Less than 1% of income came from health bodies - reaching just three organisations in the whole sample.
(example stat from report)
» Download our infographic for key statistics to use in campaigning and advocacy.
“ This report lays bare what our members have known for decades: the system is designed to underfund the very organisations that Black and minoritised women trust most. 'By and for' services aren't a niche add-on to the VAWG sector they are its backbone.
Despite facing structural racism in how funding is designed and distributed, our members have shown extraordinary resilience, and it is long past time that resilience stopped being mistaken for sustainability. Government and commissioners must act on the evidence in this report and fund our members equitably. “
- Ghadah Alnasseri, Executive Director - Imkaan
THE REPORT
Why this matters?
This isn't just about the 'by and for' specialist VAWG sector needing more money. It's about how funding works - and who it works for. Black and minoritised survivors overwhelmingly choose 'by and for' support over mainstream services, yet the system concentrates money in large, mainstream providers and pushes specialist organisations into a constant state of survival. A model that fails Black and minoritised women denies them the dedicated, intersectional pathways they deserve - to safety, healing and justice.
What are we calling for?
Right to Resist sets out 12 guiding principles for more effective and equitable funding - including long-term stability, ring-fenced, equity, full cost recovery, partnership not coercion, and an anti-racist approach. These principles are aimed at funders, commissioners and our government.
Read the 12 principles in the full report below.
“ Imkaan's report provides timely, compelling evidence of the pressures facing Black and minoritised women-led 'by and for' organisations, while setting out clear guiding principles for how funding and commissioning can better reflect the realities of survivors' lives. It comes at a pivotal moment. “
- Andrea Simon, Victims' Commissioner for London
DOWNLOAD THE REPORT
Read it. Share it. Act on it.
If you fund, commission or shape policy for this sector, the principles laid out in this report are where to start.
If you don't, help us amplify the voice of the women and organisations this report is about.
Tell us who you are! It helps us understand who this report is reaching.
This research was funded by the Vision Consortium Small Project Fund, supported by the UK Prevention Research Partnership
W I T H T H A N K S
VISION
VISION (Violence, Health and Society) is a research consortium working to reduce all kinds of violence and the associated health inequalities through better measurement, data and evidence.
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