When Safe Havens are widespread, help is never far away
afe Havens, part of the Our Safer City initiative, are designated spaces where anyone feeling vulnerable can access support.
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Jenna Stanley, Domestic Abuse and VAWG Coordinator for the City of London, highlights the simplicity and importance of the initiative: “My role is about making people feel safe and supported — that’s why the Guildhall became a Safe Haven.” She adds, “It is a simple action that helps prevent harm and supports safer journeys for women and girls especially, and that visibility can make all of the difference.”
This visibility is key. Safe Havens are clearly marked with door and window stickers and accessed via a dedicated app, ensuring those in need can quickly identify where to go. Inside, they offer more than just shelter. “
Importantly, becoming a Safe Haven is not resource-intensive. Premises receive free training, equipping staff with the skills to identify vulnerability, respond
What if the workplace could be part of the solution?
wn My Life – a partner of Our Safer City – is bringing domestic abuse education into businesses.
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Every week, women across the UK go to work carrying something their employer knows nothing about. They sit in meetings, answer emails, hit their targets and then they go home to a partner who is slowly dismantling their sense of self. A domestic abuser is not only affecting her home life, he follows her into the office (sometimes literally), he affects her concentration, her confidence, her ability to function. He may be her colleague or boss, which makes things even harder.
Own My Life is a structured course, developed by Natalie Collins, who recently featured in the BBC’s Lover Liar Predator, that helps women understand what healthy relationships look like, recognise the patterns of coercive control, and begin to reclaim their sense of identity and autonomy. It is delivered by trained facilitators; practitioners, volunteers, and increasingly, people working within organisations who want to create a genuinely supportive environment for women in their workforce.
Across their lifetime, one in four women will be subjected to abuse by a partner. In any organisation of meaningful size, that means women are already present who have been or are being abused. The question is not whether domestic abusers affect your workforce. It is whether your workforce knows how to respond when they do.
The good news is that employers are not being asked to become specialists. They are being asked to create conditions in which women feel safe enough to seek help, and to ensure that when they do, there is somewhere to point them.
Organisations can support our work in several ways. Becoming an Own My Life partner means signalling, clearly and publicly, that women's safety and well- being is a workplace priority. It means helping us reach women who need this programme but have never heard of it. For some organisations, it means exploring whether Own My Life could be offered directly to staff or to the communities they serve.
Our Safer City has set out a bold vision for making the Square Mile a genuinely safer place for women – not just in its streets, but in its offices, its institutions, and its culture. Own My Life is proud to be part of
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appropriately, and signpost to further support. Kevin O’Gorman, Head of Security at 125 Old Broad Street, describes it as a natural fit: “The reason my building management team decided to join is that we felt it was a natural extension of our customer service skills and the experience we want to offer.”
He also points to the operational benefits: “Staff are given access to training which enables them to identify vulnerable people and assist them in their onward journeys.” His advice to peers is clear: “I’d advise any building management team to join the Safe Haven network.”
Ultimately, Safe Havens strengthen the wider security environment. As Jenna Stanley puts it, “One Safe Haven isn’t enough… when Safe Havens are widespread, help is never far away and safety becomes part of the City itself.”
Find out more about becoming a Safe Haven here:
https://oursafercity.org.uk/our- initiatives/safe-havens/
or email:
graham@oursafercity.org.uk
that coalition, because we believe that prevention and education are as important as response and intervention.
Businesses have enormous reach, real influence, and the resources to make a difference. The organisations that sign up to this kind of work are not just ticking a box. They are helping to shift the conditions that allow abusers to persist and those they harm remain stuck in silence and isolation.
What you can do:
If you lead or work within an organisation that wants to understand more, we would love to hear from you. Whether that means hosting a conversation, supporting a facilitator to train, or simply sharing our work with your networks, there is a role for every organisation that believes women matter.
Find out more and get in touch at
ownmylifecourse.org
www.oursafercity.org.uk >
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