Solace Women's Aid

Whilst the governmental restrictions have been almost entirely lifted and the COVID-19 pandemic is slowly becoming a memory for most people, Solace is still dealing with the aftermaths of two years of lockdown and its meaning for many of the women and children that populate London.  

The forced cohabitation meant, for many, increased exposure to abuses and reduced possibilities for a way out. While the number of women asking for help has been exponentially increasing, the whole worldemerged changed from the pandemic and stranger to our old ways of doing. Solace found itself facing new challenges in its efforts to support the social empowerment of all those women who, locked in abuses for years, came out to a different and unfamiliar world. From the way we engage in therapeutic support or implement removals to the way we run preventive education activities, 2021, for us, was spent taking transformational steps to strengthen our approach and make sure we provide the highest quality services to the 23.000 people we work with every year. 

Throughout the last six months, Solace, in an effort to address the emerging issues, has proven its flexibility and the drive of its members by promptly and effectively strengthening its action. 

This whole scenery change meant, for us, a change of focus and strategy that, whilst continuing to revolve around meeting the needs of women, children and young people affected by VAWG, lies on 6 key pillars, that we will work towards enhancing in the forthcoming months: 

• Strategic influencing, partnership and leadership: we are working to ensure that all the voices that were silenced by abuses are heard in the imminent policy measures, so that we can use the difficulties met during the pandemic to foster a long-lasting change in the way victims and survivors are supported at the institutional level. 
• Organisational development and growth: our staff have noticeably grown and the additions to our teams are resulting in an increased diversity, that enhances our inclusive approach, as well as enhanced innovation of our offer. 
• Long-lasting recovery and lasting change: our core aim remains supporting the development of skills that allow to achieve a change that lasts and, to do so, we are constantly updating the way we implement our services, for them to be in line with changing needs.  
• Aspirations, education and employment: empowerment means primarily having the means to make autonomous decisions and with the support of our caseworkers more than 20.000 of the women who have accessed our services within the last year, accounting for the 87% of our users, are more aware of their rights and are able to make clearer choices regarding their future.  
• Children and young people: whilst our support, in collaboration with statutory services, has changed the lives of 814 children throughout 2021, our Children and Young People team continues to develop initiatives, like Young Changemakers, that foster the active participation of youth to educate young people against VAWG and prevent for it to be a pervasive phenomenon also for the future generations. 

• Empowerment, engagement and accessibility: with 23.000 women supported last year alone, Solace worked comprehensively to allow them to proactively enhance their capabilities for them to be able to write their own narrative of their stories. 

Christine’s story 

Christine reached Solace through Children’s Social Services due to ongoing harassment and abuse from her ex-partner. 

Throughout their relationship, her partner was very controlling of her. She was not allowed to have her own phone or interact with her friends and family unless he was present. But abuse went beyond that, and they were severe enough to put her life at risk.  

She wasn’t the only target of his violence. His control overtook every aspect of her life, to the point where she was prevented from seeing her loved ones and had nothing but herself.  

Finally, she found the strength to leave him, but the abuses didn’t stop. Despite ending the relationship, her ex-partner continued to harass her, showing up at her property and forcing his way in. 

Having fled the house, Christine and her two children found temporary accommodation in her friends’ houses and cars, until Social Services intervened.  

Our Independent Domestic Violence Advocate supported Christine in finding a safe relocation for her and her children. Liaising between her housing officer and MARAC, she completed a supporting letter to assist her house application and followed up the process. It was the first time Christine felt helped, as every attempt she’d made to receive support would be made increasingly difficult by bureaucracy. Christine and her children were finally able to get a new home and receive the psychological support to begin their new lives.   

It is also thanking to your support that every year we can support thousands of women like Christine. We are growing stronger every day but we need your continuous support to reach our mission of a world free from Violence Against Women and Girls.

Links:

• The pandemic of domestic abuse isn't over, can you support us?