24 Hour Domestic Violence Help-line

 IDAP and the Role of Women's Safety Workers

As Women’s Safety Workers, our primary role is to work with the victims of men undertaking the programmes in order to promote the safety of women and children and to seek to ensure that the programme of intervention with the male offenders does not put women and children at further risk of harm. It is also to help to contribute to the evaluation of men’s programmes.

Women are asked to report whether they have continued to be abused both when men are on the programme and after they have completed it. This information is important in helping to evaluate whether the programme of work with the offender is effective in stopping domestic violence and abusive behaviour.

WSW aim to :

• Contribute to promoting women’s (both women and children) safety by supporting women to construct a realistic safety plan
• Provide realistic information to women about the men’s domestic violence programme and possible outcomes
• Provide women with information about men’s attendance on the programme.
• Facilitate referral of women to local women’s services for support, advice and assistance.
• Contribute to risk management and evaluation of the men’s domestic violence programme

Women’s Safety Workers respect women’s choices to participate or not in this process and all contact with women is undertaken on the basis of promoting and centralising women and children’s safety.