female protesters
© Claudia Moroni / sistersuncut.org
Feminist campaigners blockaded the entrance to the Treasury in London on Monday over what they described as "sexist" and "racist" cuts to vital funding for domestic violence services ahead of the government's upcoming budget.

The protest was organized by feminist direct action group Sisters Uncut, which has been campaigning against slashed domestic violence services since 2014.

Sixteen young campaigners arrived at the Horse Guards Road entrance of the Treasury on Monday morning, demanding the government reverse its decision to implement the funding cuts.

The feminists then dropped a monochrome banner demanding the government "ring-fence domestic violence services" as advisers and officials attempted to enter the building.

female protesters
© Claudia Moroni / sistersuncut.org
Public money put aside for domestic violence services in Britain has been slashed by more than 30 percent since 2010, with vulnerable women dying as a result, according to Sisters Uncut.

"There are several doors to the Treasury but only one safe way out of a violent relationship," the protest group said on Monday.

"To prevent further chaos, Osborne must ring-fence funding for DV services. Women are not safe if funding isn't secure."

Sisters Uncut said it was compelled to take action because the ability of domestic abuse survivors across the UK to flee oppression now depends on their postcode.

"Specialist domestic violence services are funded by local councils, whose budgets have been halved by Osborne," it said.

"Vital services and the women they support face a precarious future, and already areas of the country are returning to a time before refuges existed."

The protest group, which is made of postgraduate students from the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS), said refuges for women in jeopardy are disappearing.

"Refuges are disappearing, and those left are forced to turn away one in three women due to lack of space. Domestic violence services across the UK have lost over 30 percent of their funding since 2010, and their future is uncertain," it said.

"Some services that currently remain open, such as the specialist LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] service Broken Rainbow, have no guarantee that they will still be running in a year's time."

female protesters
RT asked the Home Office what is being done to ensure people in danger of suffering domestic abuse are given the public assistance they so desperately need. The government department is yet to offer a response.

Latifa Akay, a postgraduate at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), called on Chancellor George Osborne to ring-fence the funding, arguing "women are dying" as a result of government cuts.

Tara Adams, a domestic violence support worker who took part in the demonstration, said: "George Osborne has used his budgets to create a 'permanent pothole fund', but domestic violence services are still being forced to struggle with short-term, shallow pots of cash. Women are not safe if funding is not secure."