About Us

We are ANEW an Alliance of Northern empowered Women. Our mission is to help those who have experienced abuse to recover well, live lives free of abuse and break cycles of generational abuse. We do this by taking a holistic approach; working with professionals who are already supporting victims and survivors with other problems where domestic abuse may be the root cause.

Why are we needed?

25% of all women will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lives.
According to Safelives this costs the economy £66billion a year.

But worse than that, it costs lives; 2 women a week are murdered by their partner or ex partner, 3 women a week commit suicide because of domestic abuse.

And for survivors the impacts are profound:

Mental Health: Women who have experienced domestic violence have higher rates of mental illness; 64% experience post-traumatic stress disorder, 48% have depression, and 18% attempt or commit suicide1.

Substance misuse: Women experiencing domestic violence are more likely to engage in drug or alcohol abuse, being up to 15 times more likely to misuse alcohol and 9 times more likely to misuse other drugs than women generally2. One study found that 70% of crack cocaine users had experienced Domestic Abuse3.

Physical Health: Domestic abuse leads to ill health: it accounts for 8% of the disease burden in women aged 18-44 and is a greater contributor to ill health than smoking, obesity and high blood pressure4.

Homelessness: Homelessness Research has shown domestic abuse to be the single most quoted reason for becoming homeless with 40% of all homeless women stating domestic violence as contributor to their homelessness5.

Employment: 56 per cent of abused women arrive late for work at least five times a month and 53 percent miss at least three days of work a month6 Those who have to flee may have to resign completely.

Parenting: Domestic abuse may intensify for a victim during pregnancy and is associated with premature labour, low birth weight, foetal trauma, delayed prenatal care and subsequent child behavioural problems7. Research shows that 30% of reported domestic abuse starts or escalates during pregnancy8. Domestic Abuse is the most common factor in Children's Social Care cases. In 2020 Domestic Abuse was a factor in 169,860 child in need cases

This story has GOT to change.
We need to create this story ANEW.

What we do

Domestic Abuse is so prolific that every organisation offering any kind of social support to women will be supporting domestic abuse victims, in many cases the domestic abuse will be the underlying cause of the issue the client is presenting with. Wellbeing services, mental health providers, healthcare providers, homelessness charities, substance misuse charities and more are supporting more and more clients where domestic abuse is an issue, especially post pandemic, in Lancashire it is estimated that Domestic Abuse has risen by 20%9.

Domestic Abuse is a specialised issue. If you are an organisation dedicated to improving wellbeing or supporting drug and alcohol recovery you may not have the resources to train your staff in domestic abuse, to provide the ongoing CPD or to hire a specialist. Yet if your clients do not get support for this trauma it may limit their ability to work with you.

That's where ANEW comes in. We provide that specialism so that you can provide that “value add” for your clients in house, whilst keeping your own resources free to focus on your own passion. No referring to external agencies and hoping your client turns up, no searching the internet for local provision in an ever changing third sector, no relying on programmes that may cease part way through for lack of funding.

We bring our group work programmes and run them in your organisation, where your clients feel comfortable on your behalf. When you refer clients onto your own Domestic Abuse Recovery Programme you can be sure they're getting the quality support they need to move forward.

Have a look at our packages to see what we offer.

Anything else?

We seek to help everyone to support victims of domestic abuse better, not just public and third sector organisations. If you're an employer you may be wondering how best you can support any employees who are experiencing abuse, or how to ensure you're creating a supportive workplace culture for women in a post metoo world. You may be a police officer or social worker wanting to improve your knowledge of domestic abuse, or a church/mosque/synagogue wanting to offer support to the people in your community experiencing abuse.

We offer a range of training, from online awareness seminars to full day training courses. Take a look here…..

And finally

We've created some resources around Domestic Abuse that anyone could find helpful, we keep a regular blog, upload videos regularly and provide ongoing resources for both survivors and those who wish to help them. That's all free! Check out our resources page.

“We have a world full of women unable to fully exhale because they have folded themselves into shapes to make themselves likeable”10
Or even just to stay alive
ANEW, helping women to unfurl.

Sources

  1. Itzin, 2006
  2. Women's Resource Centre, 2008
  3. Bury, Powis, Ofori-Wilson, Downer, & Griffiths, 1999
  4. Vos & al, 2006
  5. Cramer & Carter, 2002
  6. Equality and Human Rights Commission
  7. Flach, et al., 2012
  8. Mezey & Bewley, 1997
  9. https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/18595710.lancashire-sees-20-increase-domestic-abuse-since-start-lockdown/
  10. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie