Women’s Aid have launched a new live chat service to support female survivors of domestic abuse.
The new service lets women chat directly with a Women’s Aid support worker, giving them the space to explore their situation with a trained professional. The service provides women experiencing abuse with the information they need to help them make safe decisions in the small windows of opportunity that they have to contact services or take action.
Research by Women’s Aid found that, on average, women stay in abusive relationships for more than 6 years before reaching out for support. It can be incredibly difficult to ask for help and women often try to deal with abusive behaviour on their own because they are concerned that their experiences aren’t valid enough.
With one in four girls likely to experience domestic abuse by an intimate partner at some point during their lifetime, making it simple and easy to access support is an essential part in helping to end domestic abuse. As more people go online looking for information, Women’s Aid’s live chat service lets women who feel safer typing rather than talking, get the safe and confidential support they need to escape abuse.
The new service will initially be open between 10 am and 12pm, Monday to Friday at chat.womensaid.org.uk/
More at www.womensaid.org.uk/womens-aid-launches-new-live-chat-service/
Not sure if they were going to do this anyway or it is a response to losing the funding for the National Helpline www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3634009-Womens-Aid-England-loses-funding-for-National-Helpline
(Posted for info as much as discussion)