5 – 11 February is Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week – which is a timely moment to highlight the positive work of our Domestic Violence Refuge and One-Stop-Shop (OSS) do every day.
Women and children who arrive at our Minerva House have urgently fled from an abusive situation often have no belongings to speak of with them.
Just before Christmas, staff from Barnet Homes, Barnet Council and other stakeholders did a donation drive to collect toiletry supplies, household items and Christmas food for residents of the refuge.
This meant the world to residents of the refuge, who recently sent their thanks and gratitude, as they were able to enjoy the Christmas season with their families.
One of the residents said: “We had our Christmas dinner on 22nd December we shared lovely food, made Christmas cards and decorated biscuits. All the women received your thankful gifts and the children also received things from other donations. Thanks for making this possible for the women and children living at Minerva this Christmas, it really makes such a difference.”
Pictured above are staff at the launch of our DV OSS and refuge back in January 2016 – we’ll post updates about any events to celebrate the 2nd anniversary shortly.
You can join the conversation to raise awareness around sexual abuse and sexual violence support services available out there:
#itsnotok
@itsnotok2018