Drop in calls during ‘Lockdown’ to Women’s Aid group ‘deeply concerning’ with fears they are unable to ask for help

Since lockdown, Womens Aid ArmaghDown has seen a drop in new calls or referrals - something ‘deeply concerning’ with fears women are unable to reach out for help.
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The group has been running for almost 40 years with bases in Portadown and Newry and, despite COVID-19, they are maintaining contact and delivering services for women and children in abusive relationships.

With one in four women affected by domestic abuse, the group believes that during lockdown the need has never been greater.

Helen said: “Some women need more frequent support to help manage the issues arising from isolation and loneliness in lockdown, others are having issues supporting their children in lockdown and a greater number are now needing much more support with accessing food and basic essentials. Thanks to our team and the local communities’ support, we are able to continue to support them in all these areas.

Some of the food and essentials received by Women's Aid ArmaghDown after a recent appealSome of the food and essentials received by Women's Aid ArmaghDown after a recent appeal
Some of the food and essentials received by Women's Aid ArmaghDown after a recent appeal

“More concerning for us right now are the women, children and young people who are in lockdown with their abuser and for whom a call to or from us could increase their risk, so all we can do is keep the lines of communication available to her and be ready to support her when she can safely reach out. Since l ockdown we have seen a drop in the number of new calls and referrals to our service and that too is deeply concerning. We have seen all too horrifically the number of women who have been killed both in NI, the UK and across the globe as this pandemic increases the captivity felt in an abusive relationship.

“So we ask ourselves why aren’t our phones ringing off the hook and the answer is most likely that women can’t make that call safely due to an abusers 24/7 presence. Those who suffer abuse are highly adept at risk assessing for themselves on a continual basis and it’s likely that right now they will be doing what is needed to keep themselves and their children as safe as possible until they can escape or the threat becomes so immediate that asking for help is less dangerous that not.

“We know the PSNI are continuing to respond to incidents and, even under normal conditions the numbers of reported incidents is less than the number of incidents so we are trying to open up ways those in need can contact us that we wouldn’t normally use and that why we have posted on social media that women could contact us by email or direct message on social media if that’s safe for them. We know these are limited options as we aren’t funded to provide services 24/7 and therefore if women leave us a message we will respond to it as soon as we can.”

Sadly Helen said their ‘greatest fears’ have been realised with reports of another loss of life due to domestic abuse. “It is utterly heart-breaking. Our ongoing fear is that these numbers increase and that this crisis continues for a long time where women and children are living in captivity right now, walking on egg shells trying to maintain their safety in the places that should be their safe haven, their homes, but in reality are their prisons and a place where they may be murdered.”

Useful numbers for those who may be affected by domestic abuseUseful numbers for those who may be affected by domestic abuse
Useful numbers for those who may be affected by domestic abuse

The group provides specialised domestic abuse services in the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon areas as well as the Newry, Mourne and Down Council area.

Having started life as a single drop in service, they now have a 25 bed refuge facililty and provide Resource Centres in Portadown, Armagh and Newry.

Helen revealed: “In the year 2018-19 we supported 38 women and 31 children in refuge and 589 women with 662 children via our community support. We are one of nine NI-wide Women’s Aid groups and we grew to meet the need in our local areas. We work in close partnership with our sister organisations supported by Women’s Aid Federation NI.

“We believe that noone should suffer domestic abuse and therefore the thing to do first and foremost is to provide a safe place for women, children and young people to access the support they need at the time they need it.

“As well as providing safe crisis accommodation for women, children and young people we also provide confidential specialised support and information. We support women in a wide range of activities such as looking at their options in relation to level of risk and personal safety, housing, income and accessing finances, legal issues, emotional wellbeing, education and employment, accessing their support networks, building self-esteem and confidence to name a few. We also work with children and young people to promote their resilience and positive self-esteem.”

Helen said: “We have been able to continue to operate our community support service remotely and all our dedicated support workers are in daily contact with the women, children and young people whom they support. We are using telephone, email, video call and any other platform we can, to stay as connected as is possible in these strange times.

“The main impact is the inability to have face to face contact with women, to not be able to use all those non-verbal and sensory aspects of interactions, creates a barrier to the connections that are an important part of support. Outside of direct support Covid-19 has increased our workload in that we are now responding to an increased number of statutory and community responses to the crisis.”

Helen said community support has been ‘tremendous’. After a recent appeal for donations, the group was overwhelmed with the response from businesses, communities and individuals across the area.

“We have restocked our supplies and have been able to provide food parcels and supermarket vouchers for fresh items to so many of our families in most need and will continue to do so as the situation progresses. We have had support from our funders ensuring we could reconfigure our services to meet the needs of our families.”

Helen said the public can help by being part of societal change, holding perpetrators to account and sending a clear message that those who suffer domestic abuse are not alone. “One in four women experience domestic abuse so right now it’s likely that people in the community knows someone who is being abused. They can help by being aware of the signs of abuse and knowing where they could signpost someone who came to them seeking help.

“Our service is supporting about 270 families at present and even with that we have between 125 and 180 women on waiting lists. As our work is to address homelessness and high risk we are profoundly aware of the gaps in our service and are continually seeking new funding pots or partnerships with other specialist agencies. Domestic Abuse is more than a black eye or homelessness it is an insidious attack on your humanity it gnaws at the very core of your self-esteem and defiles your sense of self-worth. We know that to support a woman to safety and then support her and her children to regain a sense of self-worth and self-esteem takes so much more time and resources than is currently allocated,” said Helen, adding that more government funding is needed.

Helen has found the generosity of the local community uplifting, ‘from large corporations donating £100’s of food vouchers to a young boy and his mum who arrived at our office with his pocket money that he wanted to donate before Easter so we could buy Easter eggs for people who couldn’t get their own. That one was hard to hold back the tears with’.

She also praised their staff and management who have been working round the clock to help.

Helen said: “You are not alone, you are not to blame, help is available, please get in touch with us whatever way you can safely.” Our temporary numbers are for Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council Area 028 38 39 7974 and Newry, Mourne and Down Council Area 028 302 58704.

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