The Importance of Advocacy and Pathways to Support

65,251 incidents of Domestic Abuse were recorded by Police Scotland in 2020/21 however with only 1 in 5 people reporting abuse to the Police, there are far more people impacted than we see represented in Police figures.  Evidence tells us 80% of survivors are engaged with universal services yet services are often unaware of how to respond to someone experiencing abuse.  This session seeks to explore the role of responding, providing informed, competent and accurate information on support and options available. It will highlight how pivotal it can be in supporting survivors and what knowledge and skills are required to provide a supportive, risk aware and legally informed response to anyone experiencing domestic abuse.

Participants can expect to:

• Increase their knowledge of the Scottish legislative landscape including the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, Disclosure Scheme Domestic Abuse Scotland (DSDAS)
• Explore the principles for empowering survivors in an advocacy setting
• Explore safety planning for people experiencing domestic abuse
• Increase their knowledge and confidence in signposting and referring to specialist services
• Understand the benefits and challenges of Information-sharing in cases of domestic abuse
• Increase confidence in working in a relational, trauma-informed manner to ensure people experiencing domestic abuse are able to be signposted to appropriate support

Facilitator: Judy Ferguson, SWA National Training Coordinator.

Judy has worked with Women’s Aid since 2011 and also worked with the Scotland SafeLives training team delivering the DA Matters Training Programme to 14,000 Police Scotland staff.  Judy regularly provides training and consultancy to a wide range of multi agency statutory and voluntary bodies including the COPFS, Police Scotland, Social Work, Law Society Scotland, Criminal Justice Workers, Heath, Housing and Violence Against Women & Girls Partnerships etc.  Judy has a wealth of experience informing her practice and a burning passion for working to end domestic abuse and violence against women in all its forms.

We can also offer tailor made, bespoke support with training needs analysis, training, policies and procedures and implementing new legislation. We are happy to build a package specifically relevant to your organisation and the needs of your team, building on the work of our domestic abuse specialist trainers across the country.

We are happy to deliver both virtually and face to face, and can accommodate any number of learners. Our training and inputs are fully interactive, engaging and will support your team with practical application of their learning journey with us.

Please contact judy.ferguson@womensaid.scot Scottish Women’s Aid’s National Training Co-ordinator to discuss your requirements.