Date published: 23 February 2022
Stonewater recognises more needs to be done to tackle domestic abuse directed towards LGBTQ+ community. According to research, one in four people that identify as lesbian, gay or bi-sexual experience domestic abuse, and up to 80 per cent of transgender people share the same experience.
Despite these figures, there are only a handful of LGBTQ+ specialist provisions around the country supporting those fleeing domestic abuse – one of which is our Safe Space refuge.
Safe Space launched in 2019 and is a four-bedroom refuge that provides a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community who are unable to continue living in their current home due to discrimination, domestic abuse, hate crime or family breakdowns.
To date, 14 people have received support at the refuge. Our colleagues provide mental wellbeing support and offer advice around employment and education opportunities. Safe Space aims to prepare individuals for independent living and in a permanent home.
RS* moved into the Safe Space having fled threats of serious domestic abuse in her family home.
She kindly shared her story with us in 2020. Her brother was repeatedly violent towards her when they both lived at their father’s house. She often has to stay with friends in order to escape. After months of abuse, RS was left terrified when she overheard her brother and her father haggling over the price her father would pay her brother to kill her.
During her time at our Safe Space, RS was determined to help others in similar situations. Keen to volunteer and get involved in as many groups as she could, she took part in activities including a trans support group and International Women’s Day events.
During one of her one-to-one sessions with us, RS shared that she would like to start looking at alternative places to live – to lay down and start afresh. We prepare those in our care transition to independent living.
RS said that coming to our Safe Space had given her the support and security she needed to feel strong enough to live alone. She said our refuge was exactly what she needed at the time she needed it the most. While she needed to escape her current living situation, she said Safe Space gave her the opportunity to really think about herself, her future and what she wanted to achieve in life.
Croydon Council still had a duty of care towards RS, and offered her a home just outside London. She was thrilled to hear she could move on, especially during the pandemic.
Through a grant from our charitable arm, the Longleigh Foundation, we were able to provide RS with some of the bigger household items she would not otherwise have been able to afford. She was able to make her new house a home and concentrate on building her future.
Home is supposed to be a safe place for everyone. But for those like RS who have been affected by domestic abuse - it can be a place of danger and fear.
We believe everyone should have a safe place that they can still call home. A place where they are supported and can make the best decisions to help them move forward.