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West Lancashire Women's Refuge Ltd
We are a registered charitable organisation, which provides a refuge for women and their children who have been victims of domestic violence.
We have been open since 1988, and have helped many hundreds of women and their children through the different services that the organisation has to offer. These include, Refuge accommodation, a 24hr Free-phone confidential Helpline, Floating Support Service, Information Centre, Counselling service and weekly coffee mornings/support groups.
Domestic Violence (DV) can include any or all of the following:
PHYSICAL, SEXUAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, EMOTIONAL, FINANCIAL, SOCIAL.
REMEMBER YOU ARE NOT ALONE
IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO LIVE FREE FROM FEAR.
We are committed to tackling domestic violence on every front.
Victims of domestic violence suffer on many levels - health, housing, education - and lose the freedom to live their lives in the way they wish, and without fear.
Although domestic violence is chronically under-reported, research shows that it:
. accounts for 16% of all violent crime
. has more repeat victims than any other crime (on average there will be 35 assaults
before a victim calls the police)
. claims the lives of two women each week
. costs in excess of £23 billion a year.
WHAT IS BEING DONE ABOUT IT?
Almost all DV is directed by men against women but it can and does occur in lesbian and gay relationships, and in a very small minority of cases by women against men. Although this website can be used by everyone who is in a violent relationship, it is mainly addressing women.
We, at West Lancashire Women's Refuge, would like to take this opportunity to thank all the organisations
and individuals who have donated to us over the years, too many to mention
by name.
All of the women who were involved in the compilation of this book have experienced domestic violence and have received Support/floating support with the West Lancs Women’s Refuge.
We gathered together to attend a creative writing programme where we wrote down our thoughts, feelings and experiences.
We respected the views of each other and supported each other when times were emotional.
All of us can relate to the experiences as we have all suffered in the same way, feeling that it was easy to talk and open up in a friendly, safe environment.
Read this book with an open mind and you can form your own opinion of our experiences.