Training

Women who experience domestic violence are beaten, on average, 35 times before they ask for help and then contact between 5 – 12 different agencies before getting the help they are looking for. (Cope & Kelly 1989)

Domestic violence is a serious public health issue and if you are a professional in a statutory or voluntary organisation you have a vital role to play in ensuring women and children who are affected by domestic violence get appropriate support and information.

Birmingham & Solihull Women’s Aid has been the key provider of high quality training in the city over the last ten years. Our participants range from housing staff, health practitioners, police, social services staff, teachers and many workers from the voluntary sector. In our experience of deliverance of this training, we know that many workers are concerned about their service to women and children affected by domestic violence, but lack adequate training to be confident about their practice. Birmingham & Solihull Women’s Aid can support professional organisations by assisting with specialist domestic violence courses.

For details of current courses, click here.

Why is domestic violence training important?

Domestic violence is one of the major crime and disorder challenges that Birmingham faces. With 1 in 4 women experiencing domestic violence at some point in their lives it is highly likely that large proportions of your service users have been or are being affected by this issue. It has enormous devastating personal consequences for women and children affected by the issue. Domestic violence is reported to cost £143 per head of the population per annum. In Birmingham this would equate to £97 million.

What are the benefits of domestic violence training for your organisation?

• When women and children affected by domestic violence receive appropriate responses based on an understanding of the issue, we move closer to better protection and empowering them towards safety.
• Workers in the organisation develop confidence in recognizing and responding to domestic violence.
• Workers are better informed to signpost women and children to specialist services.
• Organisational time and cost is reduced by early, effective intervention.
• Organisations meet their legal and statutory duties in relation to child protection and domestic violence.

Birmingham & Solihull Women’s Aid can offer training and development opportunities for you and your staff. We also do presentations and deliver half-day workshops for a range of participant groups. Our Schools Project works with children and young people in a variety of settings. All our training packages/awareness raising workshops have been developed from our experiences of working with women and children affected by domestic violence over the last 29 years. We have established a strong reputation within the domestic violence field in the city and are committed to supporting the needs of women affected by domestic violence. All training /awareness raising packages are delivered by highly experienced staff with expertise in the area.

You can book on a multi-agency training day or alternatively we can provide training in-house with programmes tailored to meet your organisational needs.

The contact for the Training Project is 0121 685 8687 or training@bswaid.org

The contact for the Schools Project is 0121 685 8687 or schools@bswaid.org