Information for professionals

Border Women’s Aid is an independent charity which works with women, children and young people over the age of 16 who are currently experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse. We support women who are still in a relationship or have left their partner.

Police officers, social workers, housing officers or health professionals are often the first people to whom a woman reveals her experience of abuse. For this reason, BWA works closely in partnership with agencies across the Scottish Borders to combat domestic abuse, including MARAC, Scottish Borders Council, VAWG, Rape Crisis, and Police Scotland. We welcome referrals from any of our Scottish Borders partners.

Own My Life

We offer 30-minute Own My Life sessions to agencies to help them identify suitable referrals. Currently, BWA has three trained and accredited facilitators in the OML programme. OML is a creative multi-media programme which supports women to gain ownership of their lives when they have been subjected to violence or abuse. It enables participants to reflect on how popular culture and structural inequality reinforce or perpetuate gender-based violence and abuse, misogyny, and sexism.

Find out more about Own My Life here.

We also work within the community to raise awareness of domestic abuse, so we welcome enquiries from schools, colleges, churches, youth groups, and other local organisations who want to learn more about domestic abuse. Raising awareness about domestic abuse is an important aspect of our preventative work in the community.

How to refer women into our service

We are able to support women (aged 16+) with the following:

• Risk identification and safety planning
• Exploring housing options including, if appropriate, providing
• Refuge accommodation
• Helping women identify perpetrator’s abusive behaviours and how these have impacted on the woman’s health and well-being
• Empower women to develop the insight, knowledge, and skills they can use to cope with, and to move on from the abuse they’ve experienced
• Help to rebuild self-esteem and confidence which have been undermined by abuse
• Facilitate group sessions
• Promote peer support

For more information, please contact BWA on 01450 218 409, or email us.