Safe Spaces Safe Practice Guide Launched by Safe Ireland
Safe Ireland has today launched a new Safe Practice guide for Domestic Violence Professionals. The guide, which is funded by the Community Foundation of Ireland, RTE Does Comic Relief, the Government of Ireland, Tusla, Pobal and the Commission for the Support of Victims of Crime has been developed as a tool for frontline domestic-abuse responders to enable them to support victims of domestic violence. The guide, which is the second in the Safe Spaces series, was launched at a gathering of Safe Ireland Network Members in Athlone on 12th December 2023 with Airbnb supporting the event.
CEO Mary McDermott stated that
Domestic, Sex, Gender and Sexuality-based Violence destroys our ability to form stable homes and communities and it stifles personal freedom and hope. This can only be prevented when we identify DSGBV correctly, respond with skill, and overcome fear, silence and shame. We hope the launch of the Safe Practice Guide today will support specialist DV responders, and through that work, enable communities across Ireland to prevent the subjection and murder of women and children.
The Practice Guide has been designed for specialist domestic violence professionals who work with victims of domestic abuse and coercive control. Its primary use is for frontline responders in Domestic Violence Refuge and Support Services but is also designed as a resource for all professionals who encounter domestic violence through their work: Gardaí, doctors, nurses, social workers, teachers, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.
The Safe Practice guide follows Safe Place – a DV Refuge design guide which was published in December 2022. The Safe Spaces series will be completed early next year with the publication of Safe Community.
The Safe Spaces series (Safe Place, Safe Practice, Safe Community) aims to establish a domestic violence quality-standard paradigm for both the development of new services and the retrofit of existing facilities and operations. The model will serve as both a national standard for the development and commissioning of a national service delivery plan, as a blueprint for locally based groups to establish community-based capital/refuge projects or local support services, and to contribute to the work of Community Development in Ireland by addressing the issues of domestic violence and its impact in all communities.
END
12th DECEMBER 2023
For further information on this statement please contact Aoife Langdon Information and Research Officer | 087 977 1196 | Email: aoife@safeireland.ie
About Safe Ireland: Safe Ireland is a registered charity operating as a national development, advocacy and coordination body to eradicate Domestic Violence (DV) through its national network of 37 domestic violence refuge and support-service affiliates.
