The Drive Partnership marks 10 years of collaborative work to challenge harmful behaviour and increase victim-survivor safety at Parliamentary Reception
6th February 2026
“As a survivor, my heart and emotions instinctively say ‘why on earth should we focus on perpetrators?’, but my head says ‘both supporting victims and working with perpetrators to prevent domestic abuse are two sides of the same coin.’” – Josh Babarinde OBE MP.
Left-to-right: Shana Begum, SafeLives Pioneer; April Dawn Ventour, Director, Creating Equalz; Annie Gibbs, Founder & CEO, Amour Destiné; Sara Jones, Interim Drive Partnership Board Chair & Previous Social Finance Director; Jo Todd CBE, Founding CEO, Respect; Kyla Kirkpatrick, Director, The Drive Partnership; Josh Babarinde OBE MP; Ellen Miller, CEO, SafeLives; Sue Coleman, Chief Executive, West Mercia Women’s Aid; Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner
On Tuesday 27 January 2026, the Drive Partnership was delighted to mark a decade of collaborative work to challenge harmful behaviour and increase victim-survivor safety alongside nearly 150 partners and colleagues at its 10-year Anniversary Parliamentary Reception, hosted by Josh Babarinde OBE MP.
Keynote speakers on the evening included Shana Begum, SafeLives Pioneer; the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips MP; Josh Babarinde OBE MP; and Kyla Kirkpatrick, Director of the Drive Partnership, who reflected on a decade of progress in responding to perpetrators of domestic abuse to increase victim-survivor safety, and the wide range of partners who have made this possible.
Closing the keynote session, Shana Begum said: “Perpetrators jump from victim to victim. Those who harm are amongst us every day. Addressing VAWG shouldn’t be them against us – it’s how we work together to dismantle a culture that allows harm to thrive.”
Shana Begum, SafeLives Pioneer
Looking back on the past 10 years, the event celebrated key achievements across the Drive Partnership and its partners’ collective work to turn the tide on domestic abuse, including:
Increased safety of nearly 9,000 adult victim-survivors and 15,000 child victim survivors through coordinated perpetrator responses and victim-survivor support;
The launch of three co-designed, partner-led specialist responses to those causing harm across Black African, Caribbean and Mixed Heritage communities, South Asian communities, and LGBT+ communities;
Successful advocacy for improved responses to perpetrators within two Government strategies through two sector-wide Calls to Action.
Kyla Kirkpatrick, Director of the Drive Partnership, thanked the wide network of partners who have been integral to each of these achievements – from the first service delivery partners of the Drive Project, to the co-design and co-production partners of the National Systems Change work, the Government’s ambition and action in response to those causing harm, and many more.
Reflecting on the Government’s four-year investment into the expansion of the Drive Project across England and Wales, Minister Phillips said: “I feel very, very confident that this will be one of the things that will actually start to move the dial.”
The Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips MP
Kyla Kirkpatrick said: “This investment is an important step located within a wider, collective, and ongoing mission – with much work ahead – to ensure that all victim-survivors, across all communities, can be safe from harm. Thank you, Minister, for your absolute determination for the safety of women and girls, and tireless commitment on behalf of those we have lost.”
In recognition of the work that still lays ahead, the evening included a panel discussion chaired by Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner, on the next 10 years of work to build on the collective progress in responding to perpetrators and increase the safety of all adult and child victim-survivors.
Opening the panel discussion, Dame Nicole Jacobs said: “Research by my office in 2022 found that only 7% of survivors who wanted their perpetrator to receive help to change their behaviour were able to get it, despite over half of survivors wanting this support. That’s why it’s incredible to see the progress that has been made in working to change this through the Drive Partnership, and to mark this ten-year milestone by hearing from many of the experts who have been integral to these achievements. By continuing to work together, we can ensure that all adult and child victims of domestic abuse can get the support they need to recover and thrive.”
Panellists representing key systems and sectors integral to this work included:
Jess Asato MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Perpetrators of Domestic Abuse and VAWG adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care
April Dawn Ventour, Director at Creating Equalz, and delivery partner of the Pamoja Njia Bora Programme
Annie Gibbs, Founder and CEO at Amour Destiné, and National Systems Change partner
Debbie Roach, Perpetrator Services Manager at Safer Merthyr Tydfil – long-standing delivery partner of the Drive Project
Sue Coleman, Chief Executive of West Mercia Women’s Aid – long-standing victim-survivor service delivery partner within the Drive Project
The panel included discussions on the importance of close partnership working between victim-survivor services and perpetrator services, and the need for a range of responses; the vital role of victim-survivor services and by-and-for organisations, including the barriers they face, and the need for specialist responses that meet the needs of all communities; centring the experiences of children, young-people, and care-experienced victim-survivors; and the importance of cross-government and cross-party collaboration in turning the tide on domestic abuse.
Left-to-right: Annie Gibbs, Founder and CEO, Amour Destiné; April Dawn Ventour, Director, Creating Equalz; Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner
Annie Gibbs, Founder and CEO at Amour Destiné, said: “I‘m grateful to The Drive Partnership for creating space to speak openly and honestly about the challenges faced by grassroots, by and for, survivor-led organisations, and for standing in solidarity with us. My call to action to national government is clear: make it mandatory that all children and young people have automatic access to specialist support as soon as abuse is identified, not as an afterthought, and always consult directly with grassroots organisations. We all have to ask who is not in the room when decisions are made.”
Sue Coleman, Chief Executive at West Mercia Women’s Aid, said: “The Drive Project gave us the evidence to assert that domestic abuse is genuinely a choice, and that therefore things can change. Working together effectively was made possible by shared values, shared ambition, an uncompromisingly victim-centred approach and a commitment to make it work – but not at any cost.”
Debbie Roach, Perpetrator Services Manager at Safer Merthyr Tydfil, said: “Multi-agency working isn’t just a phrase; it’s a lifeline. When police, social services, health, housing, and the voluntary sector work together, we see real impact. Evidence-based practice, shared learning, and sustainable funding will allow us to scale what works and adapt to emerging challenges. Turning the tide means moving from pilot projects to embedded systems—making perpetrator accountability a core part of safeguarding.”
Left-to-right: Jess Asato MP, VAWG adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care, and Debbie Roach, Perpetrator Services Manager, Safer Merthyr Tydfil
Closing the panel discussion, Jess Asato MP said: “A relentless pursuit of perpetrators is one of three key pillars within the new VAWG strategy, which says a lot about the important arguments that have been made in the last 10 years and the shift that has been achieved by working together. It’s been incredible seeing the Drive Partnership’s work in this area grow from strength to strength, and its 10th anniversary provides an important opportunity to collectively look ahead to the work still to be done to ensure we are responding to perpetrators of all risk levels, across all systems, to increase the safety of all victim-survivors. This is a cross-government, cross-party issue that is about putting power back into the hands of victim-survivors.”
Representatives from the Drive Partnership’s founding partner organisations, Respect, SafeLives, and Social Finance, shared reflections on the evening, including Jo Todd CBE, Founding CEO of Respect; Ellen Miller, CEO of SafeLives; and Sara Jones, Interim Drive Partnership Board Chair & Previous Social Finance Director.
Left-to-right: Sara Jones, Interim Drive Partnership Board Chair & Previous Social Finance Director; Jo Todd CBE, CEO of Respect; Kyla Kirkpatrick, Director of The Drive Partnership; Josh Babarinde OBE MP; Ellen Miller, CEO of SafeLives
Closing the evening, Jo Todd CBE, Founding CEO of Respect, said: “We began the Drive Partnership with joint aims: to stop perpetrators who were causing high levels of harm from falling through the cracks of broken systems. The strength of the Drive Partnership is that we are greater than the sum of our parts – we bring complementary strengths, different expertise and a range of perspectives. As we reflect on the last decade, we know that there’s still a huge amount to do. We will lift our heads up, we will listen to feedback from our colleagues and friends, and we will make the very most of the opportunities the expansion of the Drive Project brings, so that all survivors, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalised, are safer.”
The Drive Partnership’s 10-year anniversary, including the growth and impact of its work, would not have been possible without the collaboration, expertise and drive of its partners, including service delivery partners, funding and commissioner partners, statutory and non-statutory services, specialist co-production partners, by-and-for organisations, experts by experience, researchers and academics, and – centrally – victim-survivors.
The Drive Partnership’s key achievements across the past decade are the achievements of its partners, and of partnership working, and the Drive Partnership looks forward to the next decade and beyond of collective efforts to stop domestic abuse for all victim-survivors, for good.
Photography: Kim Gray | www.photographybyktb.com |
