G&CC Summit support organisations

galop.org.uk/

Established in the early 1980s Galop provides advocacy and casework support for LGBT+ people who have experience abuse and violence. Advocates and caseworkers work with clients, based on what each individual person needs. Their advocacy service specialises in supporting LGBT+ victims and survivors of domestic abuse, hate crime, sexual violence, and other forms of abuse including honour-based violence, forced marriage, and so-called conversion therapies. They are a service run by LGBT+ people, for LGBT+ people, and the needs of the LGBT+ community.

They offer a wide range of support to LGBT+ victims/survivors:

• Advice and support to help you and others to be safer

• Advice on your rights and options

• Ongoing emotional support

• Urgent help, including medical support, even if you’re not sure about talking to the police

• Assistance and advocacy around navigating the criminal justice system

• Information on safety and emergency housing options

• Referrals or signposting to specialist or local LGBT+ services and organisations

Additionally, they offer community support and support for children and young people. They also operate a helpline via phone, email and webchat. The helpline can provide a safe, confidential listening and information service to any LGBT+ person aged 13+.

karmanirvana.org.uk/

Established in 1993 Karma Nirvana was the first specialist charity for the victims and survivors of Honour Based Abuse in the UK. Founded by Dr Jasvinder Sanghera CBE following her own escaped from a forced marriage at 15 years old and the loss of her sister to Honour Based Abuse. The charity runs workshops and online learning for professionals and frontline practitioners and campaign with parliamentarians and policy-makers. Karma Nirvana run support for victims and survivors of Honour Based Abuse including:

• A national Honour Based Abuse Helpline. The helpline is safe, confidential and free, it is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.

• The Sanctuary Support Scheme (Leeds Only). This scheme provides comprehensive support to anyone who is experiencing or has experienced Honour Based Abuse or Forced-Marriage. This service offers emotional, practical and advocacy support. Note – referrals to the scheme can only be done by professionals at this time.

mankind.org.uk/

ManKind is a confidential helpline available for male victims of domestic abuse and domestic violence across the UK as well as their friends, family, neighbours, work colleagues and employers. They provide an information, support and signposting service to men suffering from domestic abuse. In addition to their helpline, they have produced a directory of local services – The Oak Book – to support male victims of domestic abuse. The helpline is operated by trained people who can give both listening and practical support as well as providing information, emotional support, practical information and signposting.

Listening support includes:

• Simply someone to talk to

• Giving you confidence

• Helping you to realise you are not blame

Information includes:

• How to report incidents

• Planning an escape

• Police procedures

• Local support services such as charities or domestic abuse support services

• Signposting to support for emergency housing including refuge/safe housing

• Signposting to specialist legal help/solicitors

ncdv.org.uk/

Established in 2003, The National Centre for Domestic Violence was created to help survivors of domestic violence and abuse obtain protection against an abuser. They also offer services to the police, probation service, domestic abuse agency workers, the legal profession and judiciary. They specialise in providing free, fast and effective support to survivors of domestic abuse, including:

• Free Injunction services – with Injunctions often within 24 hours

• A large national framework of Legal Aid family solicitors

• Emergency Prohibited Step Orders

• Emergency Non-Molestation and Occupation Orders

• Direct links to Local Authorities, health centres, refuges and Women’s Aid Centres

Their services are free without any barriers including gender, age, sexuality or financial circumstances and without judgement.

rapecrisis.org.uk/

Rape Crisis England & Wales are a feminist charity working to end sexual violence and abuse. They are also the membership organisation for Rape Crisis centres across England and Wales. Together with their 39 member centres, we work to deliver specialist services to those affected by sexual violence and abuse, and aim to educate, influence and make change. The services they offer include:

• Rape Crisis centres

• Therapeutic support – including one-to-one support and art therapy

• Counselling

• Support reporting to the police

• Support for men and boys

• Support for children and young people

The charity also runs the national 24/7 Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Line, a free phone and online chat service for anyone aged 16+ who has been affected by sexual violence, abuse or harassment of any kind.

refuge.org.uk/

Refuge is the largest specialist domestic abuse organisation in the UK. They opened their first safe house for women and children in 1971 and since then has led the campaign against domestic abuse. Their services support thousands of survivors, helping them to overcome the physical, emotional, financial and logistical impacts of abuse and rebuild their lives — free from fear. Their services include:

• Refuges

• Support in the community

• Independent advocacy

• Culturally specific services

• Gender-based violence services

• ‘One stop shop’ services

• Economic abuse

• Coercive Control

• Child support workers

• Support for disabled women

• National Domestic Abuse Helpline

• Support for children

• Support for men

respectphoneline.org.uk/

Respect Phoneline is a part of the registered charity Respect working with the perpetrators of domestic violence. Their advisors are there to offer non-judgemental advice and support to anyone. They work with all genders and sexualities to help stop violent and abusive behaviours. They offer a free phoneline to help professionals navigate supporting perpetrators of domestic violence. They also offer a range of support for people who are violent or abusive including:

• A telephone support line - open Monday–Friday 10am-5pm

• Email support - Mon-Fri 9am-5pm

• Webchat support - Thursday 2-4pm

• A range of free downloadable resources

respond.org.uk/

Respond is a national charity that was founded in 1991. The charity provides therapy and specialist support services to people with learning disabilities, Autism or both who have experienced abuse, violence or trauma. They provide a range of trauma-informed services for children, young people, adults and professionals, Include:

• Psychotherapy

• Advocacy

• Campaigning

• Other support services which aim to prevent abuse and equip individuals and their families to come to terms with their experiences and live more positive lives.

rightsofwomen.org.uk/

Formed in 1975 Rights of Women was created as a response to the fifth demand of the Women’s Liberation Movement for legal and financial independence for women. Their vision is to achieve equality, justice and safety in law for all women. Rights of Women is an intersectional feminist movement and organisation. The organisation offers high quality, accessible services to enable women to access information about the law and their legal rights. In addition to policy, advocacy and professional training work, they deliver a range of frontline services including:

• Free telephone advice lines on a range of different legal topics including, domestic violence, sexual violence and the criminal justice system, sexual harassment at work and immigration and asylum.

• Legal Guides which are designed to be affordable and accessible on legal issues which women may be faced with. The guides are designed to improve knowledge of legal issues and remedies for a range of situations.

safelives.org.uk/

SafeLives is a national charity dedicated to ending domestic abuse. Through a person-centred approach, the charity works with frontline practitioners and domestic abuse survivors. They offer a wide resources library for professionals – including Scotland specific information. The charity also runs training for professionals in a range of different topics surrounding domestic abuse.

sarsas.org.uk/

SARSAS was started in 2008 and has grown into a national organisation, supporting people affected by rape or any kind of sexual assault or abuse at any time in their lives. They operate a helpline and online chat for adults and people 13 years and older.

They have a specialist service for women affected by rape and sexual abuse who are Autistic and/or have a learning disability, disabilities, and communication support needs. This includes 1-to-1 specialist support work. This service is open to any women aged 18 and over who live in:

• Bath and North East Somerset (BANES)

• Bristol

• Somerset

• South Gloucestershire

• North Somerset

sistahspace.org/

Sistah Space was founded in 2015. An award-winning community-based charity dedicated to bridging the gap between domestic abuse services and the needs of African Heritage and Caribbean Heritage women and girls. Founded following the tragic murder of Valerie Forde and her baby daughter by her ex-partner, the charity works to tackle domestic abuse in African Heritage families and address the intersectionality of racism and gender-based violence. In addition to their work lobbying for change and increased training for a range of services including the police on intersectional issues of race and domestic violence, they offer frontline services to African and Caribbean Heritage victims and survivors of domestic violence, including:

• Professional advice

• Advocacy

• 1 to 1 support

• Group counselling

• Therapeutic services

• Training

• Workshops

• Help to support you to understand your rights

• Help to access services and support networks

• Provide culturally considered emergency packs Item description

southallblacksisters.org.uk/

Southall Black Sisters was founded in 1979 and has been lobbying the government for the rights of Black and minority women since then. The organisation supports Black and minority women and children in cases of domestic violence and their family and friends in cases of murder or suicide. The team speaks multiple Asian and African languages. Their front-line support includes:

• Southall Black Sisters Domestic Abuse Helpline – a national helpline for free, non-judgemental advice, information and guidance on domestic and sexual abuse. The helpline is open between 9am-5pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is closed between 12:30pm and 1:30pm for lunch.

• Email support – there is support offered for those who cannot for whatever reason use a phone. The email support is via their website.

• Violence and abuse case work – if you are living in Ealing, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Richmond, Sutton, Kingston or Croydon you are eligible to access Southall Black Sisters’ support working with you to ensures your safety, access to legal advice and representative, securing support from services such as the police, social services, housing authorities and refuges, providing you with practical and emotional support to empower you to rebuild your life and independence.

supportline.org.uk/

SupportLine is a confidential helpline that provides emotional support to anyone, regardless of age, race or gender, on any issue that may be causing them a problem. The Helpline is a preventative service and aims to support people before they reach crisis point. The Helpline while open to everyone is particularly focused at people who are socially isolated, vulnerable, at risk groups and victims of any forms of abuse. They support a range of issues including, but not exclusively, bullying to exam stress, to self-harm to abuse, mental health to disability and domestic violence. They keep information on other agencies, support groups and counsellors, this service can be used by professionals seeking resources for clients in their care. SupportLine allows people to talk through their feelings with a helpline worker who offers non-judgemental, caring, empathetic support. There are currently three ways to contact SupportLine:

• Phone Support – Telephone Helpline open 6am to 8pm Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays

• Email Support – A direct email address is open every day and they aim to respond to emails with in 48 hours and try to respond the day you send the email

• Postal Support – SupportLine aim to respond to letters with in 48 hours of receiving them and where possible aim to respond the same day

survivingeconomicabuse.org/

Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) is the UK’s only charity dedicated to raising awareness of economic abuse. The charity, which is an associate member of Women’s Aid, works with frontline organisations that directly support victim survivors. Outside of working to change public understanding, professional responses to economic abuse and legal and public policy change, they work with other organisations to help support victims of economic abuse. This includes:

• The Financial Support Line for Victims of Domestic Abuse – jointly developed with and run by Money Advice Plus, the Financial Support Line is a freephone helpline open 9am – 1pm and 2pm to 5pm Monday to Friday. Their advisors offer advice on dealing with debt, including coerced debt, benefits, problems with utility companies and other bills, signpost to applying for small grants if you are experiencing severe financial hardships. Interpretation services are available by request.

• The Survivor’s Forum – The forum is a safe and supportive space for victims of economic abuse who are over 18 years old. The forum is an online community providing peer support. All posts are anonymous, and the forum is open to all women including transwomen.

• Economic Abuse Guide and Information on economic abuse (Tools to Thrive) - SEA have a wealth of written guides to help you understand and navigate economic abuse.

• Financial Support Line Casework Service – You may be eligible for this service if you have debts and have experienced economic abuse or have experienced or are experiencing domestic or economic abuse. Referral is done by professionals or by self-referral through the Financial Support Line.

nationaldahelpline.org.uk/

This is Refuge’s full time (24hr a day, 365 days of the year) National Domestic Abuse Helpline. They have a team of highly trained, non-judgmental female advisers, who are there to listen. They empower callers to understand options and support them to make decisions about their future. They can support callers to increase their safety through finding a refuge place or other specialist services. Their phone line is confidential, and they have staff who speak multiple languages.

victimsupport.org.uk/

Victim Support is an independent charity dedicated to supporting victims of crime and traumatic incidents in England and Wales. They provide specialist help to support people to cope and move on to the point where they feel they are back on track with their lives. They help anyone affected by crime, including friends, family and others involved. The crime does not need to be reported to the police or when the crime took place. You can get help from Victim Support 24 hours a day and seven days a week. They are independent from the police, and our support is free and confidential.

They offer a range of services to:

• Help you feel safer and more secure

• Help you to understand your rights and the services you’re entitled to

• Help you to explore ways to cope – including councillors

• Connect you with services and support networks

womensaid.org.uk/

Women’s Aid is a feminist, survivor-centred organisation, working with women who have experienced domestic violence. Women’s Aid exists for all women who have survived domestic abuse. As a national charity they acknowledge they have an important role to play in representing diversity. With an understand that abuse and lack of access to support is compounded by racism, homophobia and disability – they advocate for dedicated spaces for BME women, LBT women and disabled women. They offer advice online via a survivors’ forum, live chat, email and a survivors’ handbook. Additionally they can signpost you to support services local to you.