(2 min read)
Domestic violence is an often overlooked issue that affects a lot of people across the UK. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated that 5% of adults (6.9% women and 3.0% men) aged 16 years and over experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2022; this equates to an estimated 2.4 million adults (1.7 million women and 699,000 men).
Statistics on domestic abuse are produced separately by many different organisations in England and Wales. When taken in isolation, these statistics may not provide the context required to understand the national and local picture of domestic abuse. In Stockport we recognise that many ethnic diverse women are at the fringes of services and that the proportion of attacks can be so much higher and yet go unreported and unsupported.
In July 2023 Stockport Race Equality Partnership and Stockport Women and Girls Network (SWAGN) came together to create a vital, safe space for the community to learn about and discuss domestic violence and the provision of culturally appropriate services.
The meeting brought together a range of speakers from the Stockport community including; Atiha Chaudry (Director at Equal Access Consultancy), Nadia Ali (SWAG Network Lead), Claire Osment MBE (Chairperson at OWLS [Ongoing Women Local Support]), Aba Graham (Executive Director at Stockport Race Equality Partnership) and Mark Rogers (Funding Officer at Stockport Homes).
Attendees discussed how best to support a friend or relative suffering from domestic violence and/or abuse and noted key barriers to identifying domestic violence:
"We need to first understand what domestic violence is."
"We need to know the legal processes."
"We need to have culturally appropriate systems."
Collectively identifying these barriers is an essential step in taking Positive Action to improve the service provision for ethnic diverse communities in Stockport.
"It is granted within the Equality Act 2010 that you can take Positive Action to enable and empower a broken system to help itself to repair." - Aba Graham
S-REP and SWAGN encourage everyone to keep talking and sharing their knowledge within the community.
For more information on domestic violence and support available in Stockport please visit the links below:
OWLS (Ongoing Women Local Support)
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