This year, the United Nations marks 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence under the theme UNiTE! Invest To Prevent Violence against Women & Girls.
Since the beginning of the year, The Women’s Housing Movement, coordinated by Homeless Link, has brought together colleagues from range of organisations to build an inclusive movement for women’s housing justice. Together, colleagues from Shelter, Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse, Cranstoun, Gloucestershire Strategic Housing Partnership and North Yorkshire council have considered how local authorities can support the invest to prevent violence against women.
Domestic abuse is a primary trigger of homelessness among women [1] and providing an effective response should be a key priority for local authorities across England. Domestic abuse training is an essential ingredient to ensure that staff are equipped with the knowledge and skills to spot the signs and respond appropriately. Despite challenging financial circumstances, local authorities must invest in domestic abuse training and now is the time to make that commitment.
Developing and sustainably embedding a plan to train all staff on domestic abuse may feel like a daunting task. To support this work, The Women’s Housing Movement have gathered case studies from local authorities who have developed training plans for staff on domestic abuse. The case studies gathered in this document demonstrate that there are many ways to approach developing a training plan. They may provide ideas of where to begin or how to improve a training plan. Training plans should be dynamic and subject to continued review and development.
The case studies include:
- London Borough of Hackney - developed a mandatory training programme which is tailored to staff roles.
- Gloucestershire Strategic Housing Partnership - worked together to develop a consistent approach to domestic abuse training. The partnership includes Gloucestershire’s District Councils; County Council; Integrated Care Board and Office for Police and Crime Commissioner.
- North Yorkshire Council - currently in the process of developing a domestic abuse training plan, with many of the available courses to be rolled out in late 2023 and 2024.
- Durham County Council - worked in conjunction with the Durham Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Executive Group (DASVEG) to identify and respond to the training needs of local service providers as well as the local authority
- Hartlepool Council - strengthened the training which was already in place for staff in adult and children’s social care and extended availability to housing staff.
- Wokingham Borough Council - procured training from local services and partners to maximise training options.
Find out more below.
*Staff Development and Support is one DAHA Accreditation eight priority areas, which encourages you to invest in local specialist services to coordinate and conduct your training. To find out more about DAHA accreditation please email daha_membership@standingtogether.org.uk
Other training mentioned in case studies:
DAHA Training bespoke domestic abuse & Housing training
Shelter Training Housing & Homelessness specialist Training
Respect Perpetrator Training