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Partnerships & Projects

Partnerships

We believe that collaboration enables us and other services in Belfast and Lisburn to do our best work and learn from each other so as to provide the best support we can to victims of domestic abuse.

We are part of the Belfast Area Domestic & Sexual Violence and Abuse Partnership, which is also made up of a range of statutory and voluntary agencies and organisations, including Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Cara-Friend, Housing Executive, Men’s Advisory Project, PSNI, PBNI, the Education Authority Belfast and more. You can read more about the members of the Partnership here.

Various staff members are represented on the various working groups of the Partnership, including MARAC, Support & Prevention, Protection & Justice and Training & Development. We have been and will continue to be involved in a variety of projects in each of these working groups through the Partnership.

The purpose of this Partnership is to carry out an action plan which reflects the themes and actions outlined in the Department of Health and Department of Justice’s Stopping Domestic & Sexual Violence and Abuse Strategy 2016-2023. You can read more about how the Partnership operates here.

Projects

At Belfast & Lisburn Women’s Aid we consistently run and are involved in a variety of projects. See below for some of our current projects:

IRIS Project

IRIS has been commissioned in Northern Ireland by the Department of Health. IRIS is a specialist domestic violence and abuse (DVA) training, support and referral programme for General Practices that has been positively evaluated in a randomised controlled trial. IRIS is a collaboration between primary care and third sector organisations (BLWA) specialising in DVA.

Core areas of the programme include ongoing training, education and consultancy for the clinical team and administrative staff, care pathways for primary health care practitioners and an enhanced referral pathway to specialist domestic violence services for patients with experience of DVA.

The IRIS programme is an evidence-based, effective and cost-effective intervention to improve the primary care response to domestic and sexual violence and is nationally recognised. IRIS improves the General Practice response to DVA and essentially improves the safety, quality of life and wellbeing of survivors of domestic and sexual violence. In partnership with Women’s Aid Federation NI, Belfast and Lisburn Women’s Aid, Armagh & Down Women’s Aid and the Men’s Advisory Project.

Human Trafficking Project

BLWA are contracted by the Department of Justice to support female victims of Human Trafficking/modern slavery in Northern Ireland. Recently this has been expanded by to include after-care support for those female victims who have received a decision on their trafficking claim.

Advocacy Project

Innovative Northern Ireland-wide advocacy service to support qualifying victims of domestic and sexual violence and abuse. The service is available to all qualifying victims regardless of religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, disability or dependents.

The overall purpose of the service is to provide co-ordinated and tailored support, responsive to individual needs, in partnership with well-established services. This service has been commissioned by the Department of Justice and the PSNI.

Promoting Positive Relationships

BLWA are providing a partner support worker for women whose partners are taking part in a perpetrator programme. This is in partnership with Probation Board NI who are leading the programme, Social Services and local Women’s Aid Groups.

Building Better Relationships

BLWA are providing a partner support worker for women whose partners are taking part in a court mandated perpetrator programme. This is in partnership with Probation Board NI who are leading the adjudicated programme.

Partnerships & Projects

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