White Ribbon UK was founded in 2005 and forms part of a wider international movement working to end male violence against women. Specifically, White Ribbon works with men and boys to challenge the cultures that lead men to commit acts of violence and abuse.
At Abri, we’re taking part in White Ribbon Day and it’s 16 days of activism to end domestic violence, with the aim of stopping violence before it starts. We spoke to Karolyn Barta, our Group Community Safety Manager, about our work to end abuse.
Abri’s work to challenge and end abuse
Our colleagues in community safety carry out campaigns throughout the year to continue to raise awareness of what is often a hidden crime. Our ultimate goal is always to increase reporting of domestic abuse and for our customers to have confidence in our services, whether this is by helping people to recognise abuse or simply by being that initial person to talk to. We also encourage perpetrators to seek help and self-refer to us so that we can signpost to relevant support agencies.
Colleagues can report an incident or concerns through See Something Say Something. These reports will be triaged to our team, and we can then decide on how best to proceed with the referral which may include contacting the victim (if it is safe to do so) or referring to our partner organisations which may include other support agencies, the police or social services.
The most serious incidents are always reported to the police. We also attend various training sessions to ensure that our knowledge is relevant and up to date. We have recently given in-house training to a number of colleagues in independent living which has provided the opportunity to have some great conversations, improved knowledge and further awareness.
It's also really important that we continue to attend partnership meetings to help raise our profile and to encourage reporting by other agencies as well.
The results of our work
We are heartened by the fact that we have seen a rise in the number of incidents being reported and therefore giving us the opportunity to help more victims and their families. This is itself testament to the work that we are doing. Changes in attitudes are helping more people to recognise the signs of abuse and have given victims and survivors the confidence to report it knowing that they will be believed and not dismissed.
There is still a lot of work to be done. Statistics tell us that one in four women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime and two women a week are murdered by their current or former partner. One in six men will also experience domestic abuse in their lifetime. It is for these reasons that we will continue be proactive with our commitment to tackle domestic abuse in our communities.
If you would like to find out more about how we can support with domestic violence, you can here.
