Seeking a world where women and girls live in dignity, are healthy, and have choices and equal opportunities.

We ACT because they … work to transform lives, tackling discriminatory practices that affect the dignity and wellbeing of girls and women through partnerships in the UK, Europe and Africa.

One of the key issues FORWARD has focused over its last thirty years of championing the rights of African girls and women is female genital mutilation (FGM). FORWARD works in the UK, Europe and Africa to safeguard girls at risk of FGM and support women affected. Read more

When men want to seek help to stop perpetrating violence against their partners, where can they go?

We ACT because they … work with perpetrators of domestic violence across London to stop domestic violence and to reduce the harm it causes.

The Domestic Violence Intervention Project (DViP) has been going for over 20 years, working with men to challenge and change their abusive and controlling behaviour and have safer, healthier relationships.

They provide a Violence Prevention Programme for men who want to end their abusive behaviour against a partner or ex-partner. It covers different aspects of violence and control, and on skills for better relationships and parenting. The programme is accredited by RESPECT - the UK membership organisation working with domestic violence perpetrators, male victims and young people. Read more

Working together against domestic violence and abuse

We ACT because they… deliver a multi-agency approach to respond to domestic violence and abuse.

Safe to Talk (Coventry Domestic Violence and Abuse Partnership) is a partnership of different organisations tackling domestic violence and abuse in Coventry.

The partnership has a number of member organisations who work together on initiatives to raise awareness, support women and children experiencing violence and challenge perpetrators. The organisations include: Refuge, Safe and Supported Partnership (a partnership between Panahghar and Valley House), Fry Housing Trust and Barnardo’s.

Together, they provide a wide range of services, including a freephone helpline; email support; advice, emotional support, and practical assistance with benefits or support at court; support for children; and support for perpetrators.

Within the partnership, Refuge, the national domestic violence charity, provides the community support service. This includes support for court procedures, emotional support, help finding safe accommodation and support for children, help accessing counselling or mental health services, and help accessing benefits and information about financial issues. The partnership provides specialist support LGBT and for Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) communities.

One of the services provided by the partnership is supported accommodation. Much more than a place to stay for survivors of domestic violence and abuse, the supported accommodation offers practical support with parenting, money management, legal and criminal justice issues, physical and mental health, housing, and education and training.

Safe to talk also offers support specifically for children and young people in Coventry who have experienced domestic violence and abuse. This service, run by Barnardo’s and known as Defuze, involves emotional and practical support to children and young people, giving them a space to talk about their experience, increase their confidence, and improve their safety. This can be through one-on-one services or through group work. There is also a children’s Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) service to support children and young people through the legal system and advocate on their behalf.

In addition, Safe to talk offers a perpetrator programme called Brighter Futures for those who want to change, which is run by the Fry Housing Trust. The programme helps perpetrators to better understand their behaviour and its impact on others, take responsibility for this, and change.

If ratified and made law in the UK, the Istanbul Convention would ensure each of the individual services the partnership provides:

• Free telephone helpline [Article 24],
• Legal and psychological counselling, financial assistance, housing, education, training and assistance in finding employment [Article 20],
• Support for children [Articles 22, 26],
• Support for perpetrators [Article 16],
• Refuges [Article 23], and
• Specialist support services, including for LGBT and for Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) communities [Article 22].

The Istanbul Convention recognises the importance of having a joined up, integrated approach to tackling violence against women and, if ratified and made law, would strengthen partnerships like Safe to talk if it was made law in the UK.

ACT: Sign the Petition to ratify the Istanbul Convention and protect partnerships like Safe to talk and their services

SUPPORT: Find out more about what the work of Safe to talk and how you can help

 

When receiving vital care feels like you are re-living traumatic events, something has to be done.

We ACT because they … support women to re-gain control over their health, their bodies and themselves following sexual assault.

The My Body Back clinic opened on the 6th August 2015 in Barts Health NHS Trust providing a cervical screening clinic especially for women who have experienced sexual violence and a clinic where women who have been raped can self-test for sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

My Body Back is about ‘women reclaiming power over their lives, their bodies and their choices’. Early intervention is vital for treating cervical cancer and cervical screening can save lives. However, going for these type of tests can trigger traumatic memories for many women so they avoid going for testing which could be life-saving.

At the My Body Back clinic all of the female staff are trained to work with women who have experienced sexual violence. There is also a Sexual Violence Health Advocate (SVHA) who can support women going to the clinic throughout the process. My Body Back recognises that the process can be emotional and discusses each woman’s individual needs to make sure they are comfortable throughout the smear test. An emphasis is on control. For example, if there are certain body positions a woman does not like or phrases she would prefer are not used during the test, then these will not be used.

They also run Café V, is a space for women to learn about loving their bodies after violence. These run on a Saturday morning, and are a safe space for those who attend to talk about enjoying sex again – by themselves or with a partner – and any problems they may be experiencing. The project is essentially about women reclaiming power over their lives, their bodies and their choices.

Services like My Body Back are rare and at present they are by no means guaranteed. The Istanbul Convention would ensure that survivors ‘have access to services facilitating their recovery from violence’ [Article 20]. My Body Back is a brilliant example of a service that does this in a powerful way - one well worth protecting.

ACT: Sign the Petition to ratify the Istanbul Convention and protect and expand on lifesaving services like My Body Back

SUPPORT: Find out more about how you can support the My Body Back project

 

Ensuring that women seeking asylum in the UK are treated with fairness and dignity

We ACT because they… provide women seeking asylum with support and legal advice; educate, lobby, and campaign on issues affecting women seeking asylum; and run training on gender issues in the asylum system.

Asylum Aid work to support people seeking refuge in the UK from persecution and human rights abuses abroad. They also have a particular focus on women seeking asylum who are often overlooked.

The Women’s Project was set up by Asylum Aid as the first of its kind to provide women seeking asylum with free legal advice and representation; one-off advice and referrals to other agencies. Asylum Aid also lobbies and campaigns to push for reform on issues that affect women seeking asylum, as well as training on gender issues in the asylum system. Through the Women’s Project, Asylum Aid also publishes a range of educational materials on women and asylum, including research reports, leaflets and audio guides, and newsletters such as Women’s Asylum News.

Asylum Aid work to bring about large scale change through its advocacy work. This has included establishing the Charter of Rights of Women Seeking Asylum, which sets out minimum standards in the UK asylum system for women fleeing persecution and violence overseas. More recently, the Charter’s Protection Gap Campaign, called for key changes in the UK asylum system to make it fairer for women and girls, with particular attention to those who have experienced violence. Asylum Aid explains ‘Women and girls who have fled the world’s most brutal wars and repressive countries fall through a protection gap in the UK asylum system. Many of them have been raped or have experienced domestic violence, but they are not given the basic protections that we take for granted when it comes to any other woman in this situation.’ Following the campaign, the Home Office produced a new Women’s Asylum Action Plan, which addressed all of the issues the campaign had raised.

The Istanbul Convention is the first international protocol bringing the issues of refugees and Violence Against Women together. If ratified, it would ensure that gender-based violence against women be recognised as a form of persecution. The instrumental work of Asylum Aid shows us that this is necessary to ensure women seeking asylum are treated fairly. Their research indicates that women claiming asylum who were refused, were more likely to get that refusal overturned on appeal than men.

ACT: Sign the petition to ratify the Istanbul Convention and ensure gender-based violence is a recognised form of persecution.

SUPPORT: Donate to Asylum Aid

Domestic violence is never easy to seek help for, but what if you have nowhere to go that understands?

We ACT because they… listen and respond to disabled women experiencing domestic violence or hate crime

Stay Safe East is a leading organisation for disabled women experiencing domestic violence and disability hate crime. Yet, it is massively underfunded.

Stay Safe East combines high-level policy and research work, with day-to-day support and case work for the women that come through the doors, ensuring disabled women are heard and responded to.

And being heard and responded to is what makes a specialist service like Stay Safe East vital. Disabled women are twice to five times more likely to experience domestic violence than non-disabled women, but systematically experience greater barriers to services including not being believed or services not being accessible.

Disabled women also experience different forms of violence, such as withholding of care and medication, or the use of impairment to abuse the individual. Their experience of domestic violence is often on a continuum with disability hate crime and harassment experienced as a disabled person.

An important service at Stay Safe East is a Disabled Women’s support group where disabled women are able to talk about their experiences and support one another. This space is vital as it means people can discuss their lives without fear of people not understanding the disability dimension. Stay Safe East’s specialist services would be offered protection by the Istanbul Convention in Article 22.

They also provide essential training and advice to other services across the country to ensure they can support disabled women facing violence. This include collaborating on this guidance on how to improve support services for disabled women experiencing violence. Article 4 of the Istanbul Convention states that all women must have access to services, and it is only with insights on how to create and improve services for disabled women that this can be achieved.

We need to ensure services like Stay Safe East remain in place, to make sure no woman is left to face violence. The Istanbul Convention recognises this need and gives them the protections they deserve - and that is why we are campaigning for it.

ACT: Sign the Petition to ratify the Istanbul Convention and protect services like Stay Safe East

SUPPORT: Donate to Stay Safe East

The largest effort in the world of men working to end men’s violence against women

We ACT because they … work to ensure men take more responsibility for ending violence against women

Violence against women is mainly carried out by men so it can only end if men take action.

White Ribbon is a national campaign calling on men to make a simple pledge “never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women.”

White Ribbon Campaign seek to engage men in tackling violence against women through campaigning, lobbying, organising and fundraising. They raise awareness about violence against women and the importance of men taking responsibility for tackling it by speaking out against it and challenging its root causes. They have recruited support from MPs, charities, public and private bodies, and celebrities. White Ribbon also support women’s groups and organisations carrying out work to end violence against women and girls.

The Istanbul Convention recognises the importance of men and boys’ role in tackling violence against women and girls. If ratified, the Istanbul Convention would ensure that the UK Government had to take necessary action to engage men and boys in actively preventing violence against women [Article 12.4]. The Convention would also ensure awareness-raising campaigns and programmes about violence against women as well as education at all levels of education about violence against women and girls, relationships, and gender equality [Articles 13, 14].

ACT: Sign the Petition to ratify the Istanbul Convention and ensure action to engage men and boys in preventing violence against women and girls

SUPPORT: Donate to White Ribbon’s invaluable work

Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO)

Protecting and promoting the rights of Middle Eastern, North African and Afghan women and girls who are at risk of violence and abuse

We ACT because they… provide advice and support to women to escape the threat of ‘honour’ based violence, forced marriage, child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) and domestic violence and to promote their rights.

Founded in 2002, built on the belief that ‘one person can make changes wherever you are’, IKWRO initially responded to the need for culturally specific support, advocacy and counselling for women from Iranian and Kurdish communities. And in response to need, IKWRO has expanded to represent women and girls from all Middle Eastern, North African and Afghan communities, primarily in the UK.

IKWRO provides direct services for women and girls, including advocacy, training, and professional counselling. They also provide advice and support to professionals from bodies such as the police, social services, and schools to help them to understand issues affecting minority ethnic women. In addition, IKWRO campaign for better laws and their effective implementation, as well as for appropriate resources to uphold the rights of women and girls and ensure their safety.

IKWRO works closely with communities, running training groups with women and girls in which the participants explore issues such as their human rights and entitlements. Not only is it a chance for women and girls to meet others who share similar experiences, but it also helps build up their confidence and skills.

IKWRO have long since worked and campaigned on issues such as “honour” based violence, forced marriage, child marriage and FGM. One of their first campaigns was Remember Heshu through which they demanded justice for Heshu Yones, a 16 year old Kurdish girl who was murdered by her father for dating a man outside her own culture. IKWRO’s campaign helped secure the conviction of her father in what was the first UK murder case to be recognised as an “honour” killing. This was followed by IKWRO’s Justice For Banaz campaign, which led to the first extradition from Iraq preventing two of Banaz’s rapists and murderers from escaping life sentences.

IKWRO’s current Right To Know campaign calls on the government to make every school “honour” based violence, forced marriage and FGM safe through a holistic approach by training all school staff, having appropriate safeguarding procedures in place, and educating young people about their right not to face these abuses and where they can access help.

Specific articles of the Istanbul Convention call for the criminalisation of acts such as those campaigned on by IKWRO [Articles 37, 38, and 39]. Furthermore the spirit of the Convention ensures that in criminal proceedings ‘culture, custom, religion, tradition or so-called “honour” shall not be regarded as justification for such acts. This covers, in particular, claims that the victim has transgressed cultural, religious, social or traditional norms or customs of appropriate behaviour ’[Article 42].

IKWRO operates as a specialist service for women experiencing abuse, it provides a unique element of support for women from certain backgrounds which makes it all the more powerful for those women accessing it. Specialist services are currently at more risk from the adverse effects of the reduced funding across local and national government.

The Istanbul Convention would protect specialist services like IKWRO [Article 22]. It would also guarantee the education in schools and training for professionals on different forms of violence against women, including “honour” based violence, forced marriage and FGM [Articles 14, 15].

Ensuring women are protected from violence from members of their own families and communities is essential to women living safe lives. IKWRO work to ensure this happens and the Istanbul Convention can help them in this mission.

ACT: Sign the Petition and protect services like IKWRO

SUPPORT: Donate to IKWRO and support their Right to Know campaign.

You can also keep up to date with them on social media on Twitter (@IKWRO) and Facebook.

 

How do you respond to a problem as large as domestic abuse?

We ACT because they … work alongside survivors of domestic and sexual abuse to achieve independent lives.

Solace Women’s Aid started 40 years ago when their first two refuges opened supporting 40 women. Part of the umbrella organisation Women’s Aid England, Solace now works with more than 7,000 women and children affected by domestic and sexual violence each year. They provide vital services to support individuals and families at a point of crisis and accompany them along the journey of rebuilding their lives.

Here’s a snapshot of their brilliant work:

Solace delivers specialist services across a number of London boroughs, including providing advice, advocacy, counselling, family and children’s services, Irish traveller outreach, legal services, refuges, North London Rape Crisis Centre, and the Ascent project. In addition to this, Solace train professionals across in the various boroughs they work in.

Alongside delivering frontline services, Solace have also supported research into domestic and sexual abuse against women. This has included the recent and groundbreaking ‘Finding the Costs of Freedom’ research project carried out with the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit at London Metropolitan University examining how women and children rebuild their lives after domestic abuse. The research indicated that removing themselves from the immediate control of an abusive man was only the first step for women fleeing domestic abuse. According to the findings, more than 90% of women experienced post-separation abuse, demonstrating the need for specialist support for women after leaving an abusive situation.

As mentioned in the Solace video, funding cuts to organisations like Solace have left many struggling to survive, and some have even had to close. This has left many women who have or are experiencing domestic and/or sexual abuse nowhere to go to for support.

The Istanbul Convention would protect services like Solace, guaranteeing adequate financial support [Article 8], specialist support services [Article 22], refuges [Article 23], rape crisis or sexual violence referral centres [Article 25], and much more… That’s why we’re campaigning for it at ICchange. And that’s why we need your support.

ACT: Sign The Petition to ratify the Istanbul Convention and protect life saving services like Solace Women’s Aid

SUPPORT: Donate to Solace Women’s Aid

The project that inspired a worldwide movement

We ACT because … they catalogue instances of sexism experienced by women on a day-to-day basis and campaign for social change through education and awareness-raising

In 2012, after experiencing a series of escalating sexist incidents, Laura Bates started the ‘Everyday Sexism’ project. From there the project snowballed with women around the globe documenting the everyday sexism experiences in their lives - now with over 80,000 women’s daily experiences of gender inequality. This was an important moment in the movement to end violence against women and girls. This mass documentation and #shoutingback by women highlighted the scale and severity of the sexism, harassment and abuse women experience on a day-to-day basis.

‘Nothing has emerged more clearly from the Everyday Sexism Project than the urgent need for far more comprehensive mandatory sex-and-relationships education in schools, to include issues such as consent and respect, domestic violence and rape,’

Laura Bates, Founder of Everyday Sexism Project.

In addition to documenting women and girls’ experiences of sexism, the Everyday Sexism Project has led to awareness-raising and education in schools, the media, and wider society - including advising the police on Project Guardian, a project aiming to reduce sexual assault and unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport in London. The Everyday Sexism Project has created space for conversations about sexism, gender inequality, and women’s common experiences of sexual harassment and abuse.

Awareness-raising campaigns and education initiatives like those born out of the Everyday Sexism Project are scarce. Yet they are imperative to tackle the root causes of violence against women and girls.

The Istanbul Convention would guarantee education on gender equality, violence against women and girls, and interpersonal relationships ‘in formal curricula and at all levels of education’ [Article 14]. The Convention would also ensure regular awareness-raising campaigns and programmes about the causes, nature, and consequences of violence against women and girls [Article 13].

ACT: Sign The Petition to ratify the Istanbul Convention to ensure nationwide education and awareness-raising on violence against women and girls

SUPPORT: Support the Everyday Sexism Project by liking them on Facebook, following them on Twitter, and continuing to break the silence about everyday sexism.