Demand for our services remains high, worsened by the national housing emergency and cost-of-living crisis, which limit women’s ability to leave abusive situations and live independently. Our practitioners offer personalised, confidential support - assessing risk to women and children’s safety, offering vital safety planning, and guiding those experiencing or recovering from abuse to recognise harmful behaviours, build confidence, and supporting them to access housing, benefits, and legal help.

We know that we need to increase awareness of domestic abuse and the services we offer and encourage our partners to refer more women to us. Currently, the majority of our referrals are from Police Scotland. However, we know other partners, such as social services, housing, community mental health teams, and schools, should be referring more cases to us. We need to provide training and education to these stakeholders, and this funding would help fund the staff and resources we need to do this.