ISSUES
: Domestic Violence
Chapter 2: Tackling domestic abuse
38
First domestic violence safe house
opens for women over 45 (and about
time too)
The country’s first safe house for domestic violence victims over the age of 45 has
opened.
E
va Women’s Aid, based in Redcar, Teesside –
which has worked with victims aged up to 80
– has opened the specialist home for older
people because they have different needs.
Older women are less likely to report maltreatment by
their partner, the organisation said. It said it had found
that if they were accommodated with younger victims,
they would ‘mother’ them to the detriment of their own
needs.
The charity, based in Redcar’s High Street, already
operates two safe houses in the Teesside area geared
towards young women.
The new residence will offer temporary housing for up
to four women at a time and the first residents have
moved in.
Chief executive Richinda Taylor said: “Women over 45
have different needs to younger victims and we have
found that when they are housed together, the older
women tend to take on a maternal role.
“This can be at the cost of their own personal needs
and we want to ensure that they’re not overlooked.
“We’ve worked with women aged 80 and over who’ve
been subjected to violence and psychological control
all of their adult lives and sadly many women believe
that there’s no way out for them.
“This dedicated safe house, with fully-trained staff
on hand, will enable us to help them turn their lives
around and break the cycle of abuse.”
The scheme has been supported by the Charity Bank
organisation with a £55,000 loan.
Alistair Jenkins, its North East manager, said: “Eva’s
innovative approach and expertise supporting
domestic abuse victims is being shared with other
organisations working in the field so that similar
schemes aimed at women over 45 can be opened
across the UK.”
1 June 2015
Ö
Ö
The above information is reprinted with kind
permission from the Press Association. Please
visit
for further
information.
© Press Association 2016
“This dedicated safe house, with
fully-trained staff on hand, will
enable us to help them turn their
lives around and break the cycle of
abuse”
