Who We Are

The strategic management and overall responsibility of the organisation lies with the Board of Directors, which consists of BME women from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds. The Board reflects the nature of the communities that we serve, and members have various relevant skills and experiences. BAWSO reserves one third of the Board for ex service users.

On the operational level, the organisation has grown steadily and the current delivery of services is the responsibility of 53 paid staff and 140volunteers. The day-to-day management of the organisation is the responsibility of the Chief Executive.

BAWSO’S Aims & Objectives

AIMS

  1. To provide a place of safety and shelter for women from Black Minority Ethnic backgrounds in Wales that are victims or at risk of domestic violence.
  1. To provide practical help and support according to their individual needs.
  1. To create an environment where women feel empathy, can communicate and develop their self-esteem.
  1. To inform and educate the community, the voluntary and statutory sector in Wales, of the rights and needs of the women and children from minority ethnic backgrounds.
  1. To actively promote the right of every Black Minority Ethnic woman to freely participate in the project regardless of their age, race, religion, beliefs, sexual orientation, disability or sensory impairment, social or economic condition.
  1. To provide Support to women and children from minority ethnic communities in Wales

OBJECTIVES

  1. To provide shelter in suitable locations which will be accessible to all Black Minority Ethnic women seeking refuge.
  1. To contact funding bodies in order to obtain capital and revenue monies to develop the project.
  1. To provide multi-lingual information regarding the services delivered by the project.
  1. To provide advice and counselling for Black Minority Ethnic women in distress who come into contact with the project.
  1. To set up an advice and information centre which will be accessible to all Black Minority Ethnic women.
  1. To provide Support to women and children from minority ethnic communities in Wales.

Our Client Group

BAWSO works specifically with BME women and children. We provide a specialist service that is designed to meet the needs of the women and children accessing our services.

We have refuges in Cardiff in partnership with Taff Housing, refuge in Newport in partnership with Charter Housing Association, and our Refuge & Safe House in Swanseais in partnership with Coastal Housing Association & Swansea County Council

Sources of our referrals

Our referrals come from many agencies i.e., Social Services, Homelessness Department, Women’s Aid Organisations, The Police, hospitals, GPs, Schools, Colleges, neighbours, voluntary organisations, advice centre, etc.

Service Provision

The Refuge:

The main function of BAWSO is to provide temporary secure accommodation to BME women and children about to suffer or suffering domestic abuse in Wales. Refuge offers a safe breathing space where decisions can be made free from pressure and fear.

BAWSO therefore runs three purpose built refuges- 1 in Cardiff, with accommodation for 12 families, 1 Refuge in Newport with accommodation for 8 families and 1 in Swansea with accommodation for 8 families. We also have 2 safe houses in Swansea that will accommodate 3 families. Domestic Abuse Support Workers and Volunteers, ensure that we provide emotional and practical support to women in the Refuges. We respect and celebrate diversity by using paid/unpaid workers from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds and also by providing facilities, which include a prayer room and Halal/vegetarian kitchens. The aim here is to provide a safe and enabling environment for women and children.

The Advice and Information Centres:

The Advice Centre is the first point of contact for women seeking information and advice. BAWSO operates on an Open Door Policy, which means that if our refuge is full or unable to meet individual needs, every effort will be made to put the woman in contact with another agency, which is able to respond quickly and appropriately to her specific requirements. We also provide advice on housing, Welfare Rights, Health, Education and Legal.

Floating Support Provision:

We provide emotional and practical support for BME Women living in Social Housing. Support is tied to an individual and not to the property they occupy. Support lasts for as long as support is needed by the individual and will cease when the tenant is able to live independently. This scheme aims to provide holistic advice and support covering Cardiff as well as Newport, Swansea & Wrexham.

Outreach & Resettlement Project:

Families leaving the Refuge may be particularly vulnerable and the Outreach Worker provides tapering support as the family begins to live independently. Work is also undertaken with women who are unable to access the Refuge. We meet the woman in a safe and confidential environment, and provide support and information to enable her to make informed choices.

24 Hours Help Line:

Immediate access to our services can make the difference between life and death for women fleeing domestic abuse. BAWSO maintains a 24 hours help line, which enables us to provide support at all times, day or night, 365 days of the year. This service is staffed by 1 member of staff supported by a dedicated group of volunteers.

Childcare Support Project:

The majority of women who use our service have large families with most of the children under school age. When children come into the refuge they may have left their only friends and relatives and might also have been subjected to abuse.

BAWSO acknowledges that these children need as much support as mums. We therefore employ Childcare Support Workers who do a variety of work with the children individually and in groups. We also work closely with schools, Social Services, health services and other children’s organisations.

North Wales Youth Development Project

The project works with young BME women 11 -21 who have suffered or witnessed Violence Against Women. The project provides both one to one sessions and group sessions depending on the individual need.

North Wales One Stop Shop

BAWSO opened its offices in Wrexham in May 2006 following careful consideration of research findings on the needs of BME women living in North Wales entitled ‘Hidden needs- Transparent Agenda’. From the moment, BAWSO offices opened the extent of the need became apparent. The proportion of individual cases displaying prolonged and serious violence had not been anticipated, and the number of referrals was almost three times what had been anticipated as a high maximum. Over the last three years we supported 312 service-users. We supported 58 in 2006/2007, 132 in 2007/2008 and 122 in 2008/2009.

Therefore the One Stop Shop was developed in May 2009 to meet the increasing demand for our services.

Such provision would offer an exceptional opportunity to respond effectively to the growing number of new female immigrants, particularly those from Eastern Europe, and travellers. It would:

  • Make policy and service responses to difficult areas of violence against women such as trafficking, forced marriage, and marital rape easier to develop and orchestrate.
  • Offer a point at which statutory and other bodies can acquire insight and experience of the needs of BME women and their communities.
  • Strengthen the vital provision of readily available translation services and provide access to specialist help in the fields of drug and alcohol abuse, mental health and psychiatric services.
  • Facilitate a more coherent assault on overcoming rural isolation, on working with schools and colleges, and establish a centre for knowledge and good practice.

Diogel –Trafficking Project

Human Trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;

This project was developed in partnership with the POPPY project in London to accommodate and supports women who have been Trafficked. The project can support upto 5 women at any one time.

Sojourner Project

BAWSO for many years has supported women and children with no recourse to public funds. These women receive no financial support from the state and therefore BAWSO has had the financial impact of accommodating them.

This pilot project has been set up by the Home Office to financially support women with no recourse to public funds during their immigration application process period.

Female Genital Mutilation Project

In 2008 research was commissioned by BAWSO to study the prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and the attitudes and perceptions of practicing communities in Wales. FGM is globally recognised and condemned as a practice which breaches basic human rights. It is an act of cruelty which causes significant harm both in the short and long term. FGM constitutes physical and emotional abuse to children and therefore contravenes the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The research is based on our belief that it is fundamentally important to challenge such a practiceand those who agree with it or accept its perpetration rather than object to it.

This project aims to

  • Explore the extent of FGM in Wales
  • Explore how cultural attitudes and perceptions of men and women impact on the continued practice of FGM within some communities
  • Establish and analyse experiences of professionals working with girls and children from FGM practicing communities

Language Support Project:

Many BME Women speak little or no English and since clear communication is a prerequisite for any support or counselling offered to women accessing our services, we aim to provide appropriate language support through our paid interpreters.

The main objective of this project is to provide interpreting and translation services to our service users. Women from ethnic minorities fleeing domestic abuse receive support in terms of communication to help them understand the issues relevant to their lives and support in seeking help from other agencies. Women also gain a better understanding of their rights, to enable them to improve the qualities of their lives.

Throughout this project,BAWSO will recruit interpreters with familiar cultural background who speak, understand, read and write English and one or more ethnic languages to provide language support.

Volunteers Project:

BAWSO relies on the hard work and dedication of volunteers to provide holistic service to women and children suffering from domestic violence. We recruit volunteers to work with us to provide the best possible service for one of the most vulnerable groups in the community.

BAWSO recognises the wealth of experience, skills and time that volunteers can bring to the organisation and rewards the commitment, dedication and enthusiasm of volunteers. BAWSO believes it is particularly important to recognise volunteers’ personal development and encouraging volunteers to develop and expand their skills.

Advocacy and Campaigning:

BAWSO, in conjunction with Welsh Women’s Aid, lobby and campaign on issues relating to domestic abuse from a Black Perspective. We have successfully put motions to European Women’s Lobby and on Forced Marriage and Trafficking of Women. We also sit on 2 National Assemblies.

Forums: Working Group on Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women in Wales and Task and Finish Group on Welsh Women’s Aid Funding Strategy .

Research and Development Project:

Our Research and Development project is set up to document and evidence an in-depth knowledge of Black women’s and children’s experiences and the services required to meet Black women and children’s needs in order to inform of any future policy-making and development or refuge service provision for Black women.

To enhance and develop information gathering strategies and systems on domestic abuse and its effects on women and children.

To provide a key point of information on all aspects of domestic abuse for internal and external contacts.

To enable the development of a range of domestic abuse information resources, including publications, briefings, and electronic information and to conduct, disseminate and analyse a range of surveys and research projects.

BAWSO Working in Partnership
Refuge Provision:
  • Cardiff Refuge–CardiffCounty Councli + Taff Housing Association
  • DIOGEL Refuge – Cardiff County Council & Wales + West Housing Association
  • NewportRefuge-NewportCounty Council & Charter Housing Association
  • Swansea Refuge - Swansea County Council & Coastal Housing Association
  • Swansea Safe Houses – Swansea County Council & Coastal Housing Association
/ Floating Support Project:
  • Cardiff County Council
  • Cadwyn H. A.
  • Taff H.A
  • Cardiff Community H.A.
  • Wales & West H.A
  • United Welsh H.A
  • Glamorgan & Gwent H.A.
  • Swansea County Council
  • Swansea H.A
  • Gwalia H.A
  • Tai Hafan
  • Taff Housing Association
  • Newport County Council
  • Charter H.A.
  • Gwerin H.A

Advice & Information Project
  • Provide Advice, information and support for women in Wales
  • Housing
  • Health
  • Welfare Rights
  • Education
  • Legal
  • Language Support
  • Domestic Abuse
/ Language Support Project
  • CardiffUniversity Students Union
  • Wales Refugee Council
  • SwanseaCollege
  • University of WalesNewport
  • Intercultural Development Education and Arts Services
  • The Parade Community Education Centre
  • Swansea Filipino Community
  • Swansea Chinese Community
  • LAMAJO – Education & Training Consultants

Young Black Women Project:
  • The Seren Projectin Partnership with Barnados, Marlborough Road Project and Cardiff County Council
/ Interpreting and Training Services
  • We aim to provide training in
  • Forced Marriage
  • Domestic Abuse from a BME perspective
  • FGM (Female genital Mutilation)
  • Recruitment and retention of BME employees
  • Child Protection

BME Housing Project
The Sponsors are: BAWSO CADWYN CCHA TAFF HOUSING

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