Safety and peace in a pandemic
Victims of domestic abuse are being reminded that they can escape their homes during lockdown and that support is still available.
The number of reports of domestic abuse has risen significantly during the coronavirus pandemic.
Between March and June 2020 alone, police recorded 259,324 cases with a domestic abuse element. This was a rise of seven per cent on the same period in 2019 and there are many more that go unreported.
Bath-based homelessness charity Julian House is the single point of access for high-quality refuge accommodation for survivors of domestic abuse, which includes male, female and transgender victims, with or without their children.
There is one large refuge and several smaller properties across Bath and North East Somerset, provided in partnership with B&NES Council and Curo.
Julian House also runs The Freedom Programme, which promotes positive changes and recovery for women and their children in a supportive environment.
Three times a year it runs a rolling 12-week course for women who have experienced domestic abuse and provides crèche facilities for their children to enable attendance.
Faye Williams is the team leader for domestic abuse services within Bath and North East Somerset. She said that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive effect on their services and clients.
Faye said: “Those services were relatively straight forward and easy to deliver pre-covid. And then Covid hit and we had to enter a world of something we never really had to consider before. This isn’t something we could plan around or prepare for.”
Individuals are now allowed to leave their home and their area if they are fleeing from domestic abuse – however, this wasn’t necessarily the case in the first lockdown.
Faye said: “Something that came from the first lockdown is some recognition around the prevalence of domestic abuse and how the pandemic had intensified it or increased it because both partners in a relationship are under one roof, potentially with kids or other family members.”
The team at Julian House has had to adapt to the Covid-19 pandemic, including screening the people they bring into the refuge.
Faye said: “If we have a Covid outbreak in one of the refuges then we have to go into lockdown and we have a number of adults and children who cannot leave and who have limited access to the outside world in terms of technology.
“We need to go and then source foodbanks and pantry for them. We’d also look into academic stuff for the children that isn’t on a computer, things like workbooks. Our
roles really start and stop at nothing. One day we could be delivering crisis support to a mum who has left her children behind and is moving in with nothing apart from
Covid hit and we had to enter a world of something we never really had to consider before
Faye Williams
a bag of stuff to the next day having to go around and get food parcels and delivering them to refuge sites.
“It’s been different and eyeopening and the team have responded really well.”
If you or someone you know are a victim of domestic abuse please email renew@julianhouse.org.uk or call 01225 310899