Group and multi-claimant firm Keller Lenkner UK has raised £2,586 in a fundraiser to support the Liverpool Domestic Abuse Service (LDAS). The charity reports that it experienced a significant 45% increase in incidents during the past 12 months alone.
Launched in 2006, LDAS provides support to women and girls in domestic abuse situations, including forced marriages, genital mutilation, honour based abuse, stalking and coercive and controlling behaviour. In the past year, its staff and volunteers helped nearly 2,600 women and girls in the region.
Johnny Nichols, chief operating officer at Keller Lenkner UK, said: “Violence against women and girls is on the rise and the pandemic has fuelled the issue. Violence of any kind is unacceptable. In circumstances when the perpetrator is someone known, and even close to the victim, it becomes a more complex problem and makes it more difficult for women and girls to escape the situation.
“The corporate social responsibility team (CSR) at Keller Lenkner UK chose LDAS to help the charity continue its work in the local community. We were delighted to raise a significant sum to support the vital work delivered by LDAS as an essential local service for vulnerable individuals.”
According to figures from LDAS, in February 2021 there were three women killed over a period of three days in Merseyside. Domestic abuse related deaths doubled over a 12 month period up to the end of March this year. There were 38 suicides suspected to be linked to domestic abuse nationally according to ONS data.
Caroline Grant, director of policy and development at LDAS, commented: “Working to eliminate violence against women and girls (VAWG) is what LDAS has been committed to for over 15 years. It is a welcome surprise when we get such a committed response from an organisation outside of the sector. The team at Keller Lenkner UK are genuinely interested in what we do to make women and girls safer in our communities and at home.
“Never has demand been so great, and funding so difficult for specialist VAWG services. Eliminating violence against females can only happen if everyone, and every sector, seeks to challenge it.”
Keller Lenkner UK has offices in Liverpool and London with group and multi-claimant actions representing clients in workers’ rights, emissions, data breach and investment and pensions mis-selling claims.
Ends
News of Keller Lenkner UK’s fundraising was published in Legal Futures, 30 September 2021, which can be found here, and in The Business Desk, 4 October 2021, which can be found here.
