Annex 3
INFORMATION ON WOMEN'S AID FEDERATION OF
ENGLAND
SUMMARY
Women's Aid Federation of England (Women's
Aid) is the national domestic violence charity, working to end
violence against women and children, that is the sole national
co-ordinating body for the England-wide network of over 370 local
domestic violence organisations, providing over 500 refuges, outreach,
advocacy and children's support services.
Keeping the voices of survivors at the
heart of our work, Women's Aid campaigns for better legal protection
and services, providing a strategic "expert view" to
government on laws, policy and practice affecting abused women
and children.
In partnership with its national network,
Women's Aid runs multiple award- winning public awareness and
education campaigns, bringing together national and local action.
Women's Aid works to support the provision
of quality services across the UK and in partnership with the
Women's Aid federations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland,
and other stakeholders, is developing National Service Standards,
Occupational Standards and accredited training, as well as new
resources.
Women's Aid provides a package of vital
24 hour lifeline services through its publications (available
in 11 languages) and website www.womensaid.org.uk, and runs the
Freephone 24-Hour National Domestic Violence Helpline in partnership
with Refuge.
Women's Aid also provides a unique online
information service and award-winning website for children and
young people: www.thehideout.org.uk
EXCERPT FROM
WOMEN'S
AID BUSINESS
PLAN
Our Vision:
Women's Aid Federation of England is
working to end domestic and sexual violence against women and
children—"until women and children are safe".
This vision is underpinned by the beliefs
that:
— Domestic violence is a violation
of women and children's human rights, that it is the result of
an abuse of power and control, and that it is rooted in the historical
status of women and children in the family and in society.
— All people have a right to
live their lives free from all forms of violence and abuse, and
that society has a duty to recognise and defend this right.
"Violence against women is perhaps the most
shameful human rights violation and it is perhaps the most pervasive".
Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the UN
Our Mission:
For 35 years, Women's Aid's mission has
been to lead in preventing and ending domestic and sexual violence,
and in advocating and ensuring the safety of abused women and
children. There are three key aims to our strategy: protection,
prevention and provision.[196]
We aim:
— To improve the protection
available to abused women and children by ensuring that their
needs inform developments in law, policy and practice.
— To work towards the prevention
of domestic violence through public awareness and education.
— To ensure the provision of
high quality services for abused women and children.
Our Strategic Objectives:
In support of these aims, and in order
to ensure the development and implementation of a national strategic
approach to reduce violence against women, and violence affecting
children within family life, Women's Aid's strategic objectives
are:
1. PROTECTION
1.1 Campaigning for full and
effective legal protection for all victims and survivors of domestic
violence.
1.2 Giving victims and survivors
a voice by promoting public policy and practice which responds
to their needs.
1.3 Promoting effective multi
agency responses to domestic violence affecting women and children
across health agencies and social welfare and criminal justice
agencies.
1.4 Safeguarding children
affected by domestic violence by advocating for effective responses
to meet their needs and supporting and resourcing effective children's
services.
2. PREVENTION
2.1 Communicating the message
that domestic and sexual violence is unacceptable and promoting
education and action to prevent it.
2.2 Raising public awareness
of the needs and experiences of women and children who experience
domestic violence
2.3 Promoting safe violence-free
family relationships for children and young people.
3. PROVISION
3.1 Coordinating and supporting
a national network of over 300 local domestic and sexual violence
services, providing over 500 local refuges, outreach and advocacy
services.
3.2 Supporting the development
and delivery of appropriate, good quality specialist domestic
and sexual violence services.
3.3 Providing a national information
and referral point for survivors and victims of domestic violence,
statutory and voluntary agencies and the general public, by providing
a wide range of services through www.womensaid.org.uk, www.thehideout.org.uk,
a unique website for children and young people and the Freephone
24 hour National Domestic Violence Helpline (run by Women's Aid
and Refuge) wwwnationaldomesticviolencehelpline.org.uk.
3.4 Providing a range of information,
training, and resources for a national network of specialist domestic
and sexual violence services, statutory, voluntary and corporate
bodies and the general public, to ensure the highest standards
within domestic violence service provision and undertaking research
and data collection on needs and service provision to inform policy
and service development.
4. EFFECTIVE
MANAGEMENT
4.1 Securing an efficient
and effective organisation to meet the other objectives by implementing
the effective management of Women's Aid to ensure that it is sufficiently
robust to respond positively to change and development.
Women's Aid Development Priorities 2005—2008
Protection
— To maintain and further develop
effective partnerships with government and partners to improve
policy and practice across the justice and welfare system—increasing
women and children's safety from domestic violence.
Prevention
— To develop a prevention strategy
including long-term public awareness and campaigning/lobbying.
Provision
— To develop and implement a
national framework for service standards, occupational standards
and accredited training for quality services across the Women's
Aid national network of domestic and sexual violence services.
— To develop and implement a
strategy for seamless, high quality Helpline services and increased
resources to support unmet need.
— To establish a secure national
infrastructure to fulfil our core mission in the 21st century
("until women and children are safe").
— To review our legal and membership
structure to deliver our core purpose and to support quality services.
Who are Women's Aid Stakeholders and Partners?
— Abused women and children:
350,000 women and children use local domestic violence services
each year, and in 2006-07, the Freephone 24 hour National Domestic
Violence Helpline (run in partnership with Refuge) received approximately
141,390 calls, but could only answer 63%. We also receive up to
90,000 visitors a month to our two websites, giving access to
the Domestic Abuse Directory and the Survivors Handbook.*
— Member organisations providing
local domestic violence services: Women's Aid provides vital resources,
advice and training for over 370 local service providers running
over 500 safe refuges, local helplines, outreach, advocacy and
children's services.
— National and local government:
Women's Aid provides an expert view on the impact of relevant
current and planned legislation, policy ad practice guidance on
abused women and children, as well supporting the delivery of
national strategic plans.
— National and local statutory
and voluntary partner agencies (criminal justice, health, housing,
children's charities etc): Women's Aid works in partnership to
deliver a coordinated inter-agency response to domestic violence
and provides consultancy and training services for a wide range
of agencies.
— Public and corporate bodies
and other voluntary organisations: to raise awareness of domestic
violence and to educate and inform.
— Employers: Women's Aid highlights
domestic violence as a work place issue, through providing consultancy,
training and work place resources.
— Members of the public and
students: through online information services, telephone and email
enquiries.
— International governments
and voluntary agencies capacity building, training, service and
resource development.
* Data from our Annual Surveys show that
19,836 women and 24,347 children were provided with refuge-based
services in 2004-05, and a further 196,205 women and 129,193 children
accessed outreach, floating support and other services. During
2006-07, the National Domestic Violence Helpline received a total
of 141, 390 calls.
196 See: http://www.womensaid.org.uk/downloads/WA_survey_dv_service_findings.pdf.
There was a slight fall for the year 2005-06, though the occupancy
rate remains steady at 95%-100%, indicating that women and children
are staying lonter in refuge accommodation due to a shortage of
permanent accommodation. Back
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