Earlier in the year ten of our members of staff and volunteers attended a training day on ‘Domestic Abuse Awareness in the workplace’ with Lighthouse Women’s Aid. It was an eye-opening and hugely informative day, teaching us about how abuse can affect physical, emotional, and mental health, as well as how we can best support victims/survivors in the workplace.
The national average is 1 in 4 women will suffer domestic abuse in their lifetime, but in Suffolk the rate is higher than the national average with 1 in 3. This combined with the sharp spike in domestic abuse cases during lockdown, really drove home that we need a greater awareness of the issues surrounding abuse, and the resources available.
ICM is committed to playing its part to raise awareness of domestic abuse and to support victims to access the support they need. Alongside training staff and raising awareness internally we are recruiting some internal Domestic Abuse Champions to help educate staff and volunteers, and to be a first point of call for any issues surrounding domestic abuse.
Here’s what some of our members of staff thought of the training:
“The domestic abuse training was very informative and about the prevalence of the crime across all of society and reaches into many homes affecting the lives of all the family It focused on cohesive control in an area that is often overlooked. It invited me to be more curious if I have suspicions and to remember that you might only get one chance to make a difference to someone’s life.” Janet
“very good, excellent training, which will help us move forward as an organisation to help tackle domestic abuse.” Bruce
About Lighthouse:
Lighthouse Women’s Aid are a charitable organisation based in Suffolk, providing emotional support to women, young people and children experiencing domestic abuse in their personal or family relationships. They run a Women’s Centre, providing advice and information for women, young people and children, as well as a safe and caring environment in which people can come together to learn new skills. They also run a Refuge Service, providing emergency temporary accommodation for women and their children, and helping them to access support from other services.
Find out more of what Lighthouse do, as well as accessing their brilliant resources, at lighthousewa.org.uk
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