Why Doesn’t She Just Leave?

One of the most common questions when discussing domestic abuse is the age-old ‘‘Why doesn’t she just leave?”.  Well intentioned and often founded on the belief that there are numerous laws to protect you, safe, accessible refuges for you to flee to, and surely the best thing, the only thing to do is to pack your bags and leave?   Yet survivors, practitioners, academics and statistics tell us leaving is actually one of the most dangerous points, when behaviour very often escalates and violence may be introduced for the first and fatal time.

This session explores the many concerns and challenges to leaving for women experiencing domestic abuse and seeks to explore and address the victim blaming attitudes and misinformation which create barriers to support and services for women and children impacted by the behaviours of a domestic abuse perpetrator.

Participants can expect to:

• Understand why women experiencing domestic abuse face significant barriers to leaving including the implications and potential dangers of leaving or staying for women, their children and young people
• Understand the impact of domestic abuse on those who experience it and how it affects their behaviour and choices
• Explore and explain the terminology and rationale of the gendered analysis of domestic abuse
• Address the commonly asked questions relating to men’s experiences of domestic abuse
• Consider how to apply the knowledge to their own work in supporting women, children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse

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.