Legal threat over poor services for rape victims

More than 100 local authorities are to be threatened with legal action over claims they have failed to provide specialised services for women suffering rape, domestic violence and abuse, it was announced today.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission said there was a "major funding gap" and that one in four local authorities in Britain had no specialised support services.

The commission said it will write to the authorities in question within a month asking them to explain why they were not providing adequate services, as required by law.

Commission chairman Trevor Phillips, said: "In many parts of the country, services for women who have experienced violence are chronically under funded or simply do not exist. Women shouldn't be subjected to this postcode lottery.

"I hope that the bleak statistics in today's report will serve as a wake-up call. But for those councils who continue to ignore the dire need to shore up services and plug the gaps, we also have a stark reminder - the commission is ready and willing to use its enforcement powers."