In a moving speech at the World Economic Forum, Mel B recently called for better budget allocation and justice systems that are more sensitive to domestic violence survivors.
Melanie Brown, famously known as Mel B, made a speech on domestic violence as a patron to Women’s Aid, calling for a more practical approach where ‘actions’ matter more than words.
The former Spice Girl addressed the budgetary system and said, “the government, they just allocate a little bit of money each year, but they end up spending millions (of pounds) because of the police service, because of the fact that they have to have a safe house.”
Recalling the statement by UK PM Keir Starmer, that mentioned Mel’s work during a speech in Parliament, she emphasized on the need for more funding from the Government to domestic abuse charities. “But it’s not just about talking about it. It is getting the funding,” she said.
Mel suggested the government to allocate more money in charities that directly help the survivors instead.
“If they just set it aside and allocate it properly and go to a charity with a foundation (in domestic abuse)… the money goes direct to the survivor, and they actually get the benefits from it,” she also noted a bit further into the conversation.
Referring to the judicial system she said the process of siting by the abuser in court brings a women to a miserable state, “I’m going to be stumbling, I’m going to be sweating, I’m going to have anxiety,” she recounted while hypothesizing the reaction of those women.
Pertinent to this, Mel B was presented an honorary doctorate for her campaigns to aid domestic violence victims, in May 2024. Around the same time as her ex-husband, Stephen Belafonte, filed a £3.9 million defamation lawsuit on Mel’s accusations of abuse.
