Uniting to Make a Change

 

As the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence begins, Make a Change’s National Lead Rebecca Vagi speaks to the programme’s practitioners and reflects on the need to unite communities to tackle domestic abuse.

For many of us working to end domestic abuse, this time of year is synonymous with speaking out about violence against women and girls, as part of the UN Women’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. It begins today with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

This year’s theme is ‘UNITE! Activism to end violence against women and girls.’ While the work we do at Make a Change isn’t grassroots activism, the theme resonates with our values. We’re committed to uniting services and areas to create a coordinated community response to domestic abuse, and we campaign for it to be adopted more widely. We believe that domestic abuse is everyone’s responsibility.

Getting to the root of the problem – an early response

Make a Change focuses on increasing survivors’ wellbeing and safety by responding to the person causing the issue – the person using abusive behaviour. Early findings from the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s mapping of services show that only 7% of survivors who wanted their perpetrator to receive support to change their behaviour were able to get it. Right now, the majority of perpetrators are invisible and that’s not acceptable.

Make a Change Practitioner Natasha said:

“It’s not the responsibility of the survivor to change. It’s the responsibility of the perpetrator to change the way they think, feel and behave.”

We aim to offer support at the earliest possible point, often before other similar behaviour change programmes can, and ideally before the need to involve a professional agency, such as the family court, social services, or police. We also offer separate, parallel support to survivors.

Make a Change Practitioner Lesley said:

“The earlier abuse is dealt with the better, for survivors, children and communities.”

The model is designed to break down barriers to help that are frequently encountered by people concerned about their behaviour. Make a Change is free to attend, people can self-refer and, as long as they’re motivated to change, they don’t yet need to be able to name their behaviour as abusive. We understand it can take time for people to come to terms with their behaviour, and we see that process happen over the course of the programme.

One participant told us:

“Make a Change challenged many of my thought processes from the start and helped me identify parts of my behaviour that I had never acknowledged as being there. It has made huge changes to me and my family’s life. I acknowledge and understand the extent of the damage my behaviours have had on my ex-wife, my family and the extended family.”

Uniting services

Services that work directly with people using harmful behaviour and services for survivors are encouraged to come together to deliver Make a Change. They communicate regularly and monitor the survivor’s safety and wellbeing, with the aim of seeing improvement.

When someone using abusive behaviour approaches us for help, we proactively reach out to their partner or ex-partner to offer support. It means we can offer survivors support that they might not have known about or felt able to ask for, and it can also help people recognise that they’re experiencing domestic abuse.

“It’s only now that I really feel like I can label it [as abuse] with some kind of confidence.”
— Survivor supported by Make a Change

One survivor said:

“It’s only now that I really feel like I can label it [as abuse] with some kind of confidence. I didn’t know what was happening before – it was really confusing, because every time you’d convince yourself it was kind of OK.”

Perpetrator services should always be part of a wider coordinated strategy to end domestic abuse and they aren’t a substitute for any of the support services needed for survivors. Make a Change was developed by Respect in partnership with Women's Aid Federation England and is inspired by the Change That Lasts approach. This spirit of collaboration runs through our work.

Make a Change Project Manager Vicky said:

“Perpetrator services and survivor services are two halves of a whole, both trying to tackle the issue from different perspectives. Both services have a unique viewpoint and working together helps to see the bigger picture, but at the end of the day, the aim is the same: to protect the survivor.”

Everyone’s responsibility

Make a Change also supports the wider community to encourage people concerned about their behaviour towards a partner or ex-partner to get support. Our training for professionals teaches the skills to recognise signs that someone is using abusive behaviour, respond safely and effectively, and refer on.

Make a Change Practitioner Emma said:

“We look at all aspects of society and not just the obvious services that would be linked with our work, such as adults and children's services. We also look at housing, substance misuse programmes, places of worship, education settings and more.”

And we actively find and develop opportunities to raise awareness in communities that hurting, scaring or controlling your partner is not OK, and that help is available.

Make a Change Service Manager Jackie said:

“The earlier the behaviour is seen and heard the harder it is to ignore. There is safety in communities holding people responsible, without finger pointing. Acknowledging there is a problem is the first step to change.”

All of this is why this year’s theme, unite, feels so relevant to Make a Change. Violence against women will never be eliminated by one organisation working alone. We’ll do it by working across boundaries, uniting services, sectors and communities. Both within our sector and beyond it, collaboration and collective responsibility will form the foundations of a safer world for women.


Further resources:

 
Rebecca Vagi