Domestic and Sexual Violence Service

The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (LBBD) during 2019 will be procuring its Domestic and Sexual Violence Service currently delivered separately as Refuge Accommodation Provision & Independent Domestic and Sexual Advocacy (IDSVA) Service. This comes at an exciting time when the council has put forward its intention to bring together a specific Domestic Abuse Commission that will look to better understand the high levels of acceptance and normalisation of abusive behaviours as reported within our young population.

As set out within the Barking and Dagenham Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, the service will take a gender and trauma-informed approach, ensuring that the wider health and wellbeing support needs of victims and their children is joined up and effective across the whole journey from early help seeking through crisis intervention, connection and re-empowerment. There will also be an approach to disrupt and challenge people using abusive behaviours and support them to change their behaviour where appropriate and safe to do so, and there will be a focus on therapeutic approaches to children and young people.

The Council intend to remodel the current service to provide a new domestic and sexual violence service. The new service will be expected to join up with a number of council led services such as community solutions, children's care and support and adults care and support.

The Council invites suitably qualified service providers to attend a market engagement event where it will present its aspiration for the provision of domestic and sexual violence services in the borough and to have a discussion with current and potential providers of these services from all sectors. The event will be held between 10:30am and 1:00pm on Monday 25th March 2019 at The Chambers, Barking Town Hall Barking, IG11 7LU.

Please note that spaces are limited, and organisations are asked to send no more than two (2) representatives to the event. Please include the job titles/roles of attendees and their contact details, to ensure the sessions are planned effectively and enable us to make contact with attendees should there be any unforeseen circumstances.