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WWA Annual Report English 2014/15

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WWA Annual Report English 2014/15 Welsh Women’s Aid Annual Report 2014-15 Message from our Chair of Trustees 2014-2015 was a time of change for Welsh Women’s Aid, and following Paula Hardy’s departure at the start of the year, we welcomed our new Chief Executive Officer, Eleri Butler. Eleri has several years’ experience working on domestic abuse prevention and since she started she has supported Trustees and led the management team and staff to refresh our strategic plan for the next few years. level, and we continue to work as part of This process started earlier in the year a UK network of specialist services that with member consultations at regional meet needs, maximise safety, and work and national meetings, at individual to prevent violence against women and member meetings and has also involved children in our communities. consultation with survivors, with our funders, and with everyone who works at We are very grateful to our funders and Welsh Women’s Aid. supporters throughout this period, it is they who collectively make our vital As a national federation of member services across Wales possible. I would organisations that provide specialist also like to thank my dedicated team of services across Wales, it is our number Trustees who work with me on the Board. one priority to ensure that we meet the Following a review of our skill-sets and needs of our members and of survivors capacity, we have embarked on a major who need help and support. Refuge recruitment drive to expand our Board services provide vital support for women membership in 2015. I very much look and children living in fear as a result of forward to welcoming our new Trustees coercive controlling abuse, sexual or into Welsh Women’s Aid in 2015. We physical violence at the hands of their are also extremely thankful for the partners or family members. Many of our dedication and commitment of our staff members have been providing services team and volunteers. It is through their in Wales for over four decades; they were continued efforts that Welsh Women’s often started by women who had fled Aid continues to lead the way in Wales abuse themselves, and many who work in to support delivery of the most vital and lead these services are themselves services to survivors and to work towards survivors. We remain committed to the prevention of domestic abuse in the effectively providing a voice for specialist longer term. services and for survivors at a national Maria Thomas Chair, Welsh Women’s Aid Board of Trustees Introduction from our Chief Executive I joined Welsh Women’s Aid in November 2014 and I’m very pleased to be back in Wales, having worked in England for over 25 years on domestic abuse and violence against women prevention. Our work is as important now as it was in 1978 when we started representing the national network of domestic abuse services in Wales. I firmly believe our But none of this would have been possible network of national and local services without the support of our funders; I’d like is one of the foremost achievements of to thank them for their continued support the women’s movement in Wales and for our work through this period. the UK. Yet we still face unprecedented demand for specialist services, which I also want to thank our dedicated and continue to be insecurely funded and exceptional team of staff and volunteers, which still have to make the case for their our Board of Trustees, and especially our very existence in many areas. In 2014-15, national network of specialist services that 150 UK women have been killed through provide lifesaving services for survivors known or suspected male violence. and their families across Wales. They work This is the price we pay as a society for hard every day to promote equality and not taking this most predictable and human rights, empower survivors, and to preventable crime seriously. contribute collectively to achieve our goal: an end to domestic abuse and all forms This year, we successfully campaigned of violence against women. for improvements to new legislation to make sure it is the best it can be to Most of all, thanks to those survivors who support survivors and prevent violence met with me in my first year, to share their and abuse. Meanwhile we continue to experience of services and their vision of advocate for the UK government to ratify how things can be so much better. Their the ‘Istanbul Convention’ which will aide strength, courage and determination is us in our work to prevent violence against inspirational. We will continue to place women and children and to promote and survivors’ experiences at the centre of strengthen their human rights. our work to achieve real change that lasts for survivors, families and communities This annual report sets out many more of across Wales. our achievements throughout 2014-2015. Eleri Butler CEO, Welsh Women’s Aid Our Achievements in 2014/15 26 member organisations providing lifesaving services across Wales 12,274 4,349 10,347 3,892 Adults Children Adults Children Number of adults & children and young Number of survivors who were people who were referred to domestic supported directly or indirectly abuse services provided by Welsh Women’s Aid members Supported Supported Children Adults & Young People • 1,264 (99% women) were accomodated • 805 children were accomodated and and supported in refuge services. supported in refuge services. • 2,027 (97% women) were supported by • 1,091 children were supported by domestic abuse floating support services. domestic abuse floating support services. • 7,056 (95% women) were supported • 1,996 children were supported through through domestic abuse outreach services domestic abuse outreach services in the in the community. community. 2,156 subscribers to our briefings, 28,526 policy updates and newsletters calls and emails to our All Wales Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Helpline; 14,504 individuals received help and support. 476 women (16% of survivors) and their children were 6,842 directly referred to emergency refuge total follows/likes accommodation. on Twitter and Facebook women have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16, and two women a week on average are killed by their partner or ex-partner. 4.6 More than 47,000 incidents of domestic abuse were reported to the police in Wales last year, and over 124,000 victims reported a sexual million offence. 1 in 7 children and young people will have experienced living with domestic violence children and young people witness or experience domestic abuse in the UK it’s estimated there are Domestic abuse costs Wales £303.5m annually, its human 140 and emotional cost totals an victims of female genital mutilation additional £522.9m victims100 of forced marriage 14,000 people feel safer, or are safer, as a result of work undertaken in Wales to tackle domestic abuse and sexual violence between October 2013 – March 2015 Welsh Women’s Aid spends: • 89p in every pound on charitable activities 11p in every pound on business support, governance and fundraising Prevention: Education and Informing to Change Attitudes Internationally and across the UK, there End Violence Against Women and following was unprecedented coverage this year 16 Days of Action to end gender-based of the success of feminist campaigning, violence (November 25-December 10), covering a wide range of interconnecting we joined forces with BAWSO and other issues. These ranged from femicide levels services, survivors, and local multi-faith and in the UK, unjust rape convictions, sexism community groups, to raise awareness of in the press and on social media, the rights violence and abuse in local communities. of girls to an education, the treatment Assembly members across all political of women and girls seeking asylum, parties in Wales joined us to pledge their and campaigns to end female genital support to end male violence against mutilation, to name but a few. women. In Wales, we have supported national campaigns and we also raise awareness and promote best practice to achieve prevention. We do this through education, public service delivery and in communities; campaign for gender equality and challenge attitudes to reduce social tolerance of domestic abuse and all forms of violence against women. To commemorate the International Day to Led by our ambassador, actor Gareth “The greatest thing I have gained is power David-Lloyd, we supported men, women over my own life, power to be resilient, to and families to ‘walk a mile in her shoes’ bounce back, power to be at peace with through the streets of Cardiff, to raise myself, power to endure, power to love awareness and talk about gender relations and be loved, to give and receive, to be and men’s sexualized violence against productive, creative and accomplish.” women. One survivor who took part in this project We also actively support campaigns has written a memoir of her experience and events across Wales, which this year (‘A Father’s Betrayal’) and we are delighted included supporting Reclaim the Night that she has since gone on to win the 2015 events and a national Anti-Trafficking Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize for her campaign in Wales, coordinated by campaigning work. BAWSO. “Twenty years later I’ve finally found the Throughout all our awareness raising courage to speak out, however, I for one and prevention work, we make sure understand why so many decide not to that survivors’ voices are central to our speak out… so many women who are being approach. In November 2014, through our abused, who chose to take their own lives, survivor engagement project we supported and also those who are murdered.
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