Information on Safe Spaces and provision

Our support is grounded in the belief that our clients are their own experts. Our services, led by the clients, is trauma informed and focused on strengths and solutions.  We treat people with dignity and respect and support the whole person in a non-judgemental way. 

Each survivor needs time to build trust and understanding of their situation. Traditionally domestic abuse services have in the main catered for heterosexual relationships. At West Wales Domestic Abuse Service, we understand the intersectional needs of survivors.  To this end, we try to ensure that when a survivor come to us they are given a safe space where we try as much as possible to prevent from having to see other people unless they are coming to a group environment.

 We are committed to creating safe spaces for people that take into consideration their unique needs and experiences, rather than their labels.

Supporting Women

We have women’s only spaces, so that our services users feel secure in their environment; whether they are coming in for a drop-in appointment or staying in our refuge.

Women-only spaces in both refuge and the community allow women accessing them to feel safe, understood and that they would not be judged.

Refuge

Our main refuges are for women and staffed by women.

Offices

To maintain women only spaces for our service users we arrange appointments in such a way that services users of any gender do not come across each other in the hallways or waiting areas.

Supporting Men

While domestic abuse is mainly perpetrated by men against women, we acknowledge that men can also be survivors of abuse from men and women.

Men’s experience of domestic violence and abuse will be affected by stereotypes and assumptions about masculinity. This can affect how men perceive their own victimisation, place pressures and expectations on them or unfairly influence how services respond. Therefore we ensure that there are spaces in which men can feel safe, understood and are not judged.

To this end, we have separate refuge space for men and their children and provide appropriate support.