Our EDI Journey

We believe that victim-survivors receive the best support when small, local specialist charities like ours are available, particularly those offering services delivered "by and for" individuals with protected characteristics.

As a women-centred, independent local charity, we specialise in the prevention and recovery of abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG). For nearly 30 years our primary service users have been women with children. Our services are designed and led by individuals who share the same protected characteristic (sex: women) and lived experiences (abuse intersected with parenting) as those we serve, enabling us to provide truly trauma-informed care.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are at the core of everything we do. Without a serious commitment to EDI, our relationships with minoritised communities would lack authenticity. We encourage our staff, volunteers, and trustees to be open-minded and challenge biases and assumptions to foster deep, trusting, and mutually beneficial relationships with these communities. Given that most of our clients are women that have experienced gendered violence at the hands of males, our EDI journey has been complex, and at times challenging, for a team whose core belief is inclusivity.

Timeline of Key Developments:

2016

After completing our training, we began offering the Freedom domestic abuse recovery programme to women. While we appreciated many elements of the programme, we had concerns about its exclusive focus on heterosexual relationships and identified some content gaps. We frequently received referrals from LGB women whose abusers were female, and they were seeking support for their recovery.

2018

In collaboration with a postgraduate student from Brighton University, we developed our own recovery programme. which aligns with SafeLives Leading Lights quality standards and integrates best practice from around the world. It specifically welcomes and supports LGB women victim-survivors.

Equalities Data

We use equalities data to ensure we are reaching a wide range of clients and to identify areas where we need to improve outreach and when we started delivering the new programme initially saw an increase in LGB women attending:

• 2020-21: 6.73%
• 2021-22: 7.3%
• 2022-23: 13.3%

In 2023-24:

• 6% of women in our domestic abuse recovery groups identified as LGB parent
• 5% of all our clients identified as LGB parent across all services (3% in the local population)

"I liked it that the group was inclusive of same sex couples".

2019

Our staff and trustees participated in EDI training provided by an LGBTQ+ specialist charity, who understandably, advocated for trans inclusion, in line with their mission and Objects. However, as specialists in women’s services, we recognised the importance and responsibility of carefully considering the impact of this recommendation rather than uncritically adopting it. This prompted us to begin discussions and research on whether to widen the eligibility criteria our recovery groups to include men and those from the trans, non-binary and intersex (TNBI) community.

We conducted three impact assessments to explore the consequences of modifying our inclusion criteria for our domestic abuse recovery groups:

• fully inclusive for all self-identified victim-survivors (women, men, trans, non-binary and intersex people).
• Inclusive of self-identifying women and non-binary people (i.e. women registered female at birth, trans women, intersex people who identify as women, and non-binary people registered female at birth).
• inclusive of women and non-binary people registered female at birth.

Our goal was to uphold a fair and inclusive culture, ensuring safety, dignity, and privacy while maintaining a trauma-informed approach. Three key issues emerged:

Cultural and Religious Barriers: Women from some minoritised conservative ethnic communities, including practicing Muslims and Orthodox Jewish women, can only attend single-sex groups. These women would face religious prohibitions if the groups included anyone who was registered male at birth.  These vulnerable women would self-exclude if it was not a single-sex group. There are no alternative single-sex local groups they could access.

Trauma/PTSD Sensitivity: Many women accessing our services suffer from trauma/PTSD and often experience chronic vigilance and sensitivity to perceived threats, including a fear of men/maleness. These vulnerable women would self-exclude if it was not a single-sex group. There are no alternative single-sex local groups they could access.

Duty of Care: It is essential that any clients attending the group, however they identify, feel safe and welcome, as we have a duty of care to them all. If clients do not feel secure, there is a risk of self exclusion as well as the risk of legal consequences to consider. For instance, a sexual abuse charity running a sexual abuse recovery group allowed a self-identifying woman to attend the group and the charity is now facing a discrimination lawsuit from a female survivor.

Balancing these factors, we recognised that any decision we make would prioritise one protected characteristic over another. We also recognised that there are already specialist local services that men and the LGBTQ community could access. Given that most of our clients are women and that there are already specialist services for those not eligible, we decided that maintaining a Single Sex Policy for our women's recovery groups was the most proportionate and fair approach.

“Thank you for offering a single-sex domestic abuse recovery group. My sister, a practicing Muslim, can attend because it is not mixed-sex.”

Our child-to-parent violence service remains fully inclusive, welcoming any parent or carer dealing with an abusive child aged 8-17.

In our Equality & Diversity Policy, we define Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion while acknowledging that full inclusivity is not always the most equitable approach. This is especially true when supporting recovery from gendered violence, as our services must remain accessible to all women from minoritised ethnic communities and women who have a persistent fear of males. We recognise that true recovery can only occur in spaces where all individuals feel safe. Our Single Sex Policy outlines how we lawfully use the exemptions the Equality Act to provide female only spaces.  While we understand that not everyone will agree with this stance, we believe it is the fairest for the majority of our clients and survivors.

We strive to be transparent about our eligibility criteria so that all victim-survivors and referrers clearly understand who can access each service. This ensures that:

Women victim-survivors know our recovery groups are safe spaces specifically for women.

All group participants feel welcomed and respected by others in the group.

Everyone who interacts with us is treated with dignity, aligning our words with our actions.

As a women’s charity that limits its recovery groups to women, excluding non-women with other protected characteristics, our approach aligns with other specialist charities that prioritise serving specific communities with protected characteristics.  For instance, an LGBTQ+ charity restricts its groups to LGBTQ+ individuals, excluding heterosexual people with other protected characteristics, so do not cater to much of our client base who are heterosexual women. There is space for all of us to work together, like a jigsaw, ensuring that overall, the needs of all victim-survivors are met. Our goal is to make a meaningful contribution to the complexities of EDI, and we are eager to share our knowledge and experience in this area.

 

Male Victim-Survivors

We believe that every victim-survivor of abuse should have access to local support, tailored to their specific needs. While we do not have the resources, remit or staff expertise to support male victim-survivors looking for recovery support directly, we signpost to Respect, a trusted specialist male domestic abuse charity that understands the specific challenges men face. We do welcome Dads/male carers, in our child/adolescent-to-parent violence and abuse (CAPVA) group.

 

Transgender and Non-Binary Victim-Survivors

We understand that transgender, non-binary and intersex (TNBI) individuals are vulnerable to intimate partner violence.  The 2021 Census confirms that in our geographical area around 0.7% of residents (16+), identify with a gender different from their sex registered at birth.

We signpost TNBI victim-survivors to Brighton Switchboard, the local specialist LGBTQ+ recovery service, where staff bring both lived experience and expertise. Additionally, we aim to support this charity's sustainability, recognising the limited number of TNBI clients there are in our area. However, we are fully committed to providing one-to-one IDVA support to any local TNBI victim-survivors who would prefer to receive support from us for any reason. Additionally, we welcome any parent/carer, however they identify, in our child/adolescent-to-parent violence and abuse (CAPVA) group.