The University of Worcester hosted the Discover and Connect – Interpersonal Relationships & Well-Being (IRWB) Conference, bringing together a range of voices to explore critical societal issues. Sue Coleman shared West Mercia Women’s Aid’s perspective, addressing the epidemic of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and reflecting on grassroots activism that paved the way for organisations like West Mercia Women’s Aid.
“In the 1970s, women in the UK decided that they could no longer wait for others to recognise the enormity of the social injustice of the crime of domestic abuse that was – and still is – part of everyday life for so many. Underpinned by their feminism, women set up local groups that lobbied and protested until they were given old run-down council houses to use as refuges. They organised and became charities and sought funding from wherever they could. A movement that became Women’s Aid was born. Fifty years on and we are still out there, helping women to safety and recovery. Organisations like West Mercia Women’s Aid are now part of a large, national network. So much – and then again, so little – has changed.
For West Mercia Women’s Aid, being an established part of the third sector is bitter sweet. In the period of over 40 years of women-led support services for the survivors of domestic abuse in the region we can evidence that demand for our support has not abated – indeed, it continues to grow. This is why we must protest.
We have started to ask women themselves what they think men need to do to end domestic abuse in the first place. And we are simultaneously having that conversation with men and boys, too. We are pleased to have the opportunity to share this work with you and let you know what they say.”
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