Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Employment

Violence against women and girls creates barriers to employment 

About 4% of victim-survivors lose their job due to partner violence, and 12.5% take some time off from work.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) affects every aspect of women’s lives, including their ability to find, stay in and progress in work. Abuse can damage physical and mental health, disrupt careers, force women to reduce their hours or leave jobs altogether, and undermine their long-term financial security. 

Yet these economic impacts often receive far less attention than they deserve. Many victim-survivors face barriers created not only by abuse itself, but also in the workplace and when interacting with public services. The Women’s Budget Group is working with the End Violence Against Women (EVAW) Coalition, the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant (EDAC), and the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA). Together, we are examining the barriers to employment faced by victim-survivors of domestic and sexual violence and abuse. The aim is to identify recommendations for employers and the government so that women affected by violence can enter, remain in and return to work safely.  

The project will combine a review of existing evidence with engagement from frontline service providers, employers, researchers and policymakers to develop practical recommendations.  

Our goal 

We aim to strengthen the evidence on how violence against women and girls affects women’s employment and economic security, and identify practical actions that employers, policymakers and statutory services can take to better support victim-survivors. 

Existing research already shows that abuse can lead to job loss, reduced hours, time away from work and lower earnings. However, there is still too little UK-specific evidence about what support works best, particularly for women facing multiple forms of disadvantage. 

Our work will help identify where current systems enable women to stay safe and economically secure—and where they create additional barriers to employment. The findings will inform practical recommendations to improve workplace support, public policy and employment services.