CEO’s Report
Chief Executive Officer Claire Lambon says the stigma about domestic abuse is being broken. But there’s a long way to go to create a world without domestic abuse…
T
PAGE 4
his year has been a time of great progress. In late 2018, Stop Domestic Abuse secured the Hampshire County Council contract to deliver domestic abuse support services in all 11 Hampshire districts. Combined with our contract in Portsmouth and other funding streams, this makes us the principal provider of domestic abuse services across Hampshire. Since taking over this new contract in April, we have gone through a steep learning curve and doubled our refuge network from seven refuges to 14 (one of these is managed by our partners and sub-contractors Andover Crisis and Support Centre). I would like to thank all our staff for so ably rising to the challenge – as well as to welcome all of our new starters. New name, same mission To reflect the transformation of our service, we have embraced a new name and brand identity. As announced in last year’s report, we left our old name (Southern Domestic Abuse Service) behind to become Stop Domestic Abuse. Our new name showcases our mission and our approach. While much of our work is to stop domestic abuse in current abusive
relationships, ultimately we want to prevent abuse from happening in the first place. That’s why we work in schools to educate children about healthy relationships; with black, Asian, minority ethnic and refugee communities to discuss harmful cultural practices; with perpetrators to help them understand the impact of their actions and develop healthier behaviours; and with women, children, young people and men who are victims or survivors of abuse to recover from their trauma and learn practical tools to stay safe in the future. Breaking the silence about domestic abuse There has been significant national media attention on domestic abuse this past year. In particular, the case of Sally Challen, who had her life sentence for killing her husband overturned this February, because the coercive control she experienced during their marriage became recognised by law in 2015. This landmark ruling and the news coverage it generated has been excellent for stimulating conversation about domestic abuse and for increasing recognition of coercive control.
STOP DOMESTIC ABUSE
Domestic abuse happens to men too Similarly, the case of Alex Skeel, who bravely shared his story in a February television documentary, has highlighted that domestic abuse happens to men too and that, sometimes, women are the perpetrators (see page 16). Indeed, Alex’s partner was the first woman in the UK to be imprisoned for coercive control. It is important to remember that domestic abuse disproportionately affects women (nearly twice as many women than men were victims of domestic abuse in the year to March 2018). However, we hope that Alex’s example will empower more male victims to speak up and seek help (see page 6). At Stop Domestic Abuse, we
stopdomesticabuse.uk
