Changing Lives to receive £1m to help victims in Rotherham, Newcastle and elsewhere

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Victims of sexual exploitation scandals in Rotherham and Newcastle are among those who will benefit from this year’s tampon tax disbursement.

The charity Changing Lives will receive £1m to support vulnerable women groomed by gangs for sexual exploitation in the north-east and Yorkshire, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced.

More than 1,500 children are believed to have been sexually exploited by grooming gangs in Rotherham over a 16-year period, while 700 children and women are estimated to have fallen prey to groups of men in the north-east. In both areas, serious failings by the police were identified.

The Changing Lives initiative is one of 10 projects chosen as beneficiaries of the £15m proceeds from the unpopular 5% VAT on tampons and sanitary towels. Others include schemes to help sex workers, women with gambling problems, women with mental health problems and those affected by domestic abuse.

Crisis UK, in partnership with Hestia, has been given £1.14m to help homeless women who are survivors of modern slavery rebuild their lives and find new homes.

The minister for civil society, Mims Davies, said the proceeds of the levy would enable women “to address difficult challenges they face in our society. This important funding will help thousands more vulnerable women of all ages across our communities. It will provide more of the opportunities they need to rebuild their lives.”

Last year, the Women’s Resource Centre criticised the fact that only two out of the 10 charities selected to receive the funds were specialist women’s organisations. The protests appear to have fallen on deaf ears, with only one women-only charity among those selected this year: Southall Black Sisters. The group, founded to help Asian and African-Caribbean women, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

DCMS said Southall Black Sisters would receive £1.09m to help survivors of abuse in London, the north-east and Manchester “by providing safe accommodation, subsistence and help including counselling, therapy, immigration advice and community awareness-raising”.

In Scotland, £1.09m will go to Sacro, to help provide support, including safety advice, to sex workers who use the internet to find clients.

The government promised to use the money raised from the tax to fund the women’s sector after a campaign by activists in 2015.

• This article was amended on 5 April 2019 to clarify that Crisis UK is to receive the funding in partnership with Hestia.