We are astonished to hear (Report, 12 April) that the Ministry of Justice has awarded vital public funding to support victims of sex trafficking to a religious group (the Salvation Army) instead of a specialist women's support service (Eaves, which has successfully run the Poppy Project for nine years).
We are deeply concerned that this appears to be an ideological move to award public-sector contracts to religious groups in order to bring them into the "big society", rather than an evidenced decision based on the interests of such women. There is a wealth of evidence to show that women who have experienced violence want a specialist service that understands their needs.
We question how the government will ensure that religious organisations will not discriminate against women and make moral judgments about their situations and needs. How will the government make sure that human rights standards to which they are committed are fulfilled? For example, how will the Salvation Army respond to lesbians or women who need abortion advice?
The home secretary has made a commitment to specialist support services in her strategy on violence against women and girls. Why are trafficked women to be treated differently? All government departments must support the strategy or it risks being seriously undermined.
Professor Liz Kelly Co-chair, End Violence Against Women Coalition, Vivienne Hayes Chief executive, Women's Resource Centre
• The Anti-Trafficking Legal Project (ATLeP) is deeply concerned to learn that the Poppy Project, the UK's most experienced support service for victims of sex trafficking, is to lose its government funding. This is not simply a loss of funding; it is the removal of vital skilled, trusted and experienced workers aiding victims of crime in the UK.
In the past eight years, the Poppy Project has become an internationally recognised centre of excellence in providing practical support to women who have been trafficked into sexual exploitation and domestic servitude as well as playing a leading part in policy development and initiatives to combat trafficking.
ATLeP, a network of lawyers advising and representing victims of trafficking, has first-hand knowledge of the success Poppy Project service users have had in seeing their traffickers prosecuted, securing compensation awards against them and in gaining recognition by the courts of their need for international protection. The loss of this expertise will have a devastating impact on the protection of victims of crime. As services will be withdrawn at three months' notice, ATLeP is also concerned about the impact this will have on the vulnerable women supported by the Poppy Project as well as the impact on the prevention and prosecution of trafficking.
Raggi Kotak
Anti-Trafficking Legal Project
• The news that Eaves is to lose its funding to provide for victims of trafficking is yet another illustration of the government's attempt to dismantle the structures put in place over the years to help victims. The home affairs select committee argued three years ago that the extent of the problem was much greater than had been recognised, yet since then we have seen the UK Human Trafficking Centre absorbed into the Serious Organised Crime Agency, which is not subject to public scrutiny; the future of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre placed in doubt, leading to the resignation of its chief executive; a national referral mechanism criticised on all sides for leading to significant undercounting; and the failure of the government to ratify the Council of Europe convention on the protection of children.
It is still the case that ministerial responsibility for dealing with the issue lies with the minister responsible for immigration, which demonstrates that the government sees the issue of trafficking not as a crime against vulnerable women and children but as an immigration problem. Hence the need to obscure the real numbers of those affected.
Eaves is losing the contract because it has demonstrated the real extent of the problem. The message for the voluntary sector is clear: if you want to be funded by government, don't rock the boat.
Gary Craig
York