A Welsh charity has announced a new campaign to support and raise awareness of domestic violence amongst women.
Homeless charity, Llamau, was created 35 years ago in an effort to combat homelessness in children and women in Wales. Part of Llamau's work is to create safe spaces for women and children to take refuge if they come across hardships.
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The campaign highlights the fact that domestic abuse can affect anyone - your boss, your sister or your daughter, and poses the question ‘Who will you help?’. With one in three women affected by domestic abuse in their lifetime, support for charities like Llamau is extremely important.
Last year, Llamau supported 173 women and their children to access safety and support through their domestic abuse refuges. With funding for these services continuously under review and at risk, campaigns like this bring in vital voluntary funds that help keep refuges open and outreach services like Family Safety running.
Llamau are launching the campaign in the build up to this year’s International Women’s Day in the hope that women will use the energy they derive from the day to show their support to women experiencing and escaping domestic abuse. Women who deserve to be able to celebrate the day and do so in their own way.
Llamau's CEO, Frances Beecher, said: “We really want to use this campaign to make people think about who in their own family or circle of friends could be a victim of domestic abuse and if they knew someone affected, would they donate to help them escape it?
"We believe people absolutely would want to do all they could to ensure a safe space like a refuge was available to as many women and children as possible. International Women’s Day is all about celebrating women and their achievements, and for us at Llamau, we like to use this global day of celebration as a way to recognise the small successes and the small wins of the courageous women living in our refuges.
"For them, the wins are the days they feel strong enough to play with their children without worrying they are being too loud or waking up and not blaming themselves for the abuse they suffered. No win is too small for us to celebrate with them but we can only continue to do that with the help of the public.”
In 2020, Madga [whose name has been changed to protect her identity] managed to escape from her abusive ex-husband after enduring years of mental and emotional abuse. She and her young child made their way from England to a Llamau refuge in Wales.
“I am so grateful to Llamau for taking me in when they did. My visa conditions were tricky but they helped me anyway," she said.
"Without the safety of refuge and the support from the amazing people that helped me work through my feelings and challenges, I wouldn’t be safe and happy in my own home now. My baby is happy and I am too and that’s thanks to Llamau.”
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