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Is it really just the cuts? neo-liberal tales from the women’s voluntary and community sector in London

Is it really just the cuts? neo-liberal tales from the women’s voluntary and community sector in London

Vacchelli, Elena, Kathrecha, Preeti and Gyte, Natalie (2015) Is it really just the cuts? neo-liberal tales from the women’s voluntary and community sector in London. Feminist Review, 109 (1). pp. 180-189. ISSN 0141-7789 (Print), 1466-4380 (Online) (doi:10.1057/fr.2014.38)

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Abstract

This article analyses the ways in which recent neo-liberal changes in service provision together with much reduced budgets due to austerity policies have affected women’s voluntary and community organisations in London. These organisations provide crucial resources to vulnerable women who are victims of domestic abuse, trafficking, honour-based violence, and so on, and are a primary example of women seeking support at the grassroots level. While there is a rich literature on the negative impact of public sector cuts on gender equality in as much as they affect women as workers, with a particular emphasis on increasing female poverty (Fawcett, 2013; Women's Budget Group, 2013), less is known about the effects of the coalition government’s cuts on women’s grassroots organisations. We do know, however, that cuts to public spending have deeply destabilised, and in some cases decimated, women’s organisations, with negative impacts on women’s sexual health, and the prevention of domestic abuse and forced marriage, among other indicators of female well-being (Hirst and Rinne, 2012; Women's Budget Group, 2013). Yet little attention has been paid so far to what we might term ‘the resilience strategies’ of women’s organisations. This article aims to bridge this gap by critically examining what kind of coping strategies women’s organisations are developing.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Women's organisations, Austerity, Service provision
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group: Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences > School of Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS)
Last Modified: 13 Dec 2020 00:52
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/16731

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