8 Independent domestic violence advisor jobs in East of England

To provide high-quality and comprehensive advice, information, practical and advocacy support relating to domestic and other forms of gender-based violence perpetrated against Black and minoritised women and children. To provide efficient and high-quality administrative support in managing the Central Pot, a key fund that supports women with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) and other exceptional needs. This includes overseeing the Central Pot inbox, assessing and approving applications, maintaining financial and case management records, and contributing to monitoring and reporting requirements.

To assist with educational, developmental, policy and campaigning work arising from advice and casework.

To promote the aims and objectives of SBS as a specialist organisation for Black and minoritised women and children.

Why work with Southall Black Sisters?

Southall Black Sisters is committed to providing a supportive working environment, where team members feel valued, empowered and safe. To that end, we provide an excellent package of employee benefits including:

• Generous annual leave entitlement 
• Hybrid working 
• Enhanced pension contribution
• Enhanced sick pay
• Subsidised public transport season ticket
• A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme, including access to confidential support from MBACP therapists 
• Clinical supervision with an MBACP therapist to explore issues arising from casework
• A focus on continued learning and development through accredited training delivered by experts in their field
• Organisation-wide away days
• Career development pathways and support
• The opportunity to learn and grow within an organisation renowned for inspiring political activism and campaigning successes
• Employer eye care scheme

To Apply

Submit a completed application form along with the optional equal opportunities monitoring form by the application deadline. Please do not send us your CV as this will not be considered.

Please note, incomplete applications will not be considered.

We have an exciting opportunity for an Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) to join the team in London, working 37.5 hours a week. This role involves both face to face and virtual support in a hybrid model of working, you will work from home, Victim Support Office at Singer Street, London.

Do you want to make a difference every day? Do you want to contribute to change & improvement for those who need it?

Do you have resilience & adaptability? Can you work effectively with a focus on customer service and care?

If yes, then we'd love to hear from you…

What we offer

At Victim Support, we are committed to attracting and retaining the best talent. Our competitive rewards and benefits package includes:

• Flexible Working Options: Including hybrid working.
• Generous Annual Leave: 28 days plus Bank Holidays, increasing to 33 days plus Bank Holidays, with options to buy or sell annual leave.
• Birthday Leave: An extra day off for your birthday.
• Pension Plan: 5% employer contribution.
• Enhanced Allowances: Enhanced sick pay, maternity, and paternity payments.
• Exclusive Discounts: High Street, retail, holiday, gym, entertainment, and leisure discounts.
• Financial Wellbeing: Access to our financial wellbeing hub and salary-deducted finance.
• Wellbeing Support: Employee assistance programme and wellbeing support.
• Inclusive Networks: Access to EDI networks and colleague cafes.
• Sustainable Travel: Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loans.
• Career Development: Ongoing training and support with opportunities for career progression.
• Clinical supervision: and group reflective practice.

About the Role

As an Independent Domestic Violence Advocate you will provide a high quality and victim/survivor focused service to children and young people who have been subjected to domestic violence and abuse. You will:

• help them to deal with the aftermath and consequences of violence and abuse.
• develop, deliver, and monitor safety and support plans for those affected by crime, who accept ongoing support.
• support those affected by crime in understanding and asserting their rights and entitlements
• help to facilitate access additional services, establish healthy coping mechanisms and provide practical support and information.

About Us

Victim Support is an independent charity dedicated to supporting people affected by crime and traumatic incidents in England and Wales. We put them at the heart of our organisation and our support and campaigns are informed and shaped by them and their experiences.

Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.

At Victim Support, we're proud to celebrate diversity and create a workplace where everyone feels they belong. We're committed to being an antiracist organisation, and we actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, including those from Black and Asian and other minoritised communities.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet all essential criteria for a job where it is practicable to do so. We are also happy to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment and selection process.

How to apply

To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date. If you have already registered & started an application, then we will contact you to advise of the amended closing date wherever possible.

Are you looking for a rewarding role within an intersectional feminist organisation? We have an incredible opportunity for an Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) to join Solace Women’s Aid.

Solace exists to end the harm done through gender-based violence. We work to prevent violence and abuse and provide services to meet the individual needs of survivors, particularly women and children.

Our core values reflect our history and were developed in consultation with staff and service users. Feminism and intersectionality are key to our work, and we are committed to the principles of being survivor-led, trauma-informed, empowering, diverse, anti-racist and anti-discriminatory.

About the Service:

Our Redbridge Solace Advocacy Support Service (SASS) teams provide advocacy and support to survivors of domestic and sexual abuse living across London.  

About the role:

IDVA’s are responsible for risk and needs assessing and safety planning with survivors of domestic violence. They will hold a caseload of service users, requiring crisis short-term intervention, providing advice, advocacy, and onward referral where appropriate.

About You:

You are highly organised, self-motivated and have a passion for ending gender-based violence. Your will have a “can-do‟ approach as well as a demonstrable commitment to Solace’s feminist stance in supporting women and their children to be safer. Successful applicants will have in-depth knowledge of domestic abuse and its impact on service users and their children, experience of supporting survivor’s domestic and/or sexual abuse including strong casework management skills.

Additional Information

The successful candidate will be required to work a minimum of two days per week from the office or other designated workspaces. Flexibility is essential, as travel may be required at short notice to ensure service user needs are met and the service continues to operate effectively. Accordingly, the postholder must be able to travel between Monday and Friday.

The salary for this post is £29,385 - £30,671 (Unqualified) or £30,671 - £33,438 (Qualified), with an expectation that the successful candidate starts at the entry point of the scale.

This is a fixed term contract ending October 2027.

What we can offer you

We provide a comprehensive benefits package to all our employees, including:

· Flexible working

· Focus on learning and development (internal career progression and training)

· Generous holiday entitlement

· Employer pension contribution

· Family-friendly leave and enhanced maternity pay

· Access to Inclusion Networks

· Daily clinical debriefing

· Two paid wellbeing days

· Employee Assistance Programme providing free 24/7 support and advice

· Employee Benefits Platform offering staff discounts, benefits, and savings

· Flow & Restore yoga classes

· Meditation sessions

· Cycle to Work Scheme

How to apply

Please submit your CV and Supporting Statement through the recruitment portal. When applying for this role, kindly highlight in your Supporting Statement how your values, knowledge, transferable skills, and experience align with each point within the following sections of the Job Profile Document:

Values, Behaviours & Competencies

Knowledge, Experience and Skills

Solace Women's Aid values diversity, promotes equity, and challenges discrimination. We encourage and welcome applications from candidates of diverse cultures, abilities, perspectives, and lived experiences.

We have policies and processes in place to ensure that all employees are offered an equal opportunity in recruitment and selection, promotion, training, pay, and benefits. Our Inclusion Networks support staff with protected characteristics and offer inclusive spaces to connect.

We anticipate and provide reasonable adjustments as needed and support employees who acquire a disability or long-term health condition, enabling them to stay in work. 

This service is run by women for women and is therefore restricted to female applicants under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, Part 1. Section 7(2)(e) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 applies. The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

As part of safer recruitment practices, we carry out pre-employment checks including references, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and right to work in the UK checks.

No agencies

We have an exciting opportunity for 2 Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVA) to join the team in London, working 37.5 hours a week to provide maternity cover.This role involves both face to face and virtual support in a hybrid model of working, you will work from home and Victim Support Office at Victim Support, 3rd Floor, 5-7 Singer Street, London, Greater London, EC2A 4BQ.

Do you want to make a difference every day? Do you want to contribute to change & improvement for those who need it?

Do you have resilience & adaptability? Can you work effectively with a focus on customer service and care?

If yes, then we'd love to hear from you…

What we offer:

At Victim Support, we are committed to attracting and retaining the best talent. Our competitive rewards and benefits package includes:

• Flexible Working Options: Including hybrid working.
• Generous Annual Leave: 28 days plus Bank Holidays, increasing to 33 days plus Bank Holidays, with options to buy or sell annual leave.
• Birthday Leave: An extra day off for your birthday.
• Pension Plan: 5% employer contribution.
• Enhanced Allowances: Enhanced sick pay, maternity, and paternity payments.
• Exclusive Discounts: High Street, retail, holiday, gym, entertainment, and leisure discounts.
• Financial Wellbeing: Access to our financial wellbeing hub and salary-deducted finance.
• Wellbeing Support: Employee assistance programme and wellbeing support.
• Inclusive Networks: Access to EDI networks and colleague cafes.
• Sustainable Travel: Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loans.
• Career Development: Ongoing training and support with opportunities for career progression.

About the role:

As an Independent Domestic Violence Advocate you will:

• Implement effective ways of working with victims and those supporting them to increase safety and reduce harm.
• Provide a high-quality, front-line service to victims of domestic abuse, delivering a premium service prioritised according to risk, primarily focusing on victim/survivors aged 16+
• Work within a multi-agency framework consisting of the MARAC and local partnership responses to domestic abuse to keep safety central to all services for victims of domestic abuse.

You will need:

• knowledge of help-seeking barriers and support needs of victims of domestic abuse (in heterosexual or same-sex relationships).
• a good understanding of domestic abuse including the impact of domestic abuse on victims and their children.
• to understand the principles of risk assessment, safety planning and risk management for victims of domestic abuse and their children
• an understanding safeguarding issues, and the legal responsibilities surrounding these issues.
• experience of direct service delivery to victims of domestic abuse or other vulnerable people.
• strong communication, negotiation and advocacy skills, both written and verbal when interacting with a range of agencies and individuals. Understand and be committed to equal opportunities and diversity issues in policy and practice.
• strong crisis management skills and the ability to deal with stressful and difficult situations.

Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details.

About Us:

Victim Support is an independent charity dedicated to supporting people affected by crime and traumatic incidents in England and Wales. We put them at the heart of our organisation and our support and campaigns are informed and shaped by them and their experiences.

Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.

At Victim Support, we're proud to celebrate diversity and create a workplace where everyone feels they belong. We're committed to being an antiracist organisation, and we actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, including those from Black and Asian and other minoritised communities.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet all essential criteria for a job where it is practicable to do so. We are also happy to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment and selection process.

How to apply:

To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date. If you have already registered & started an application, then we will contact you to advise of the amended closing date wherever possible.
 

We have an exciting opportunity for an Independent Domestic Violence Advisor to join the DRIVE team in London, working 37.5 hours a week.

Do you want to make a difference every day? Do you want to contribute to change & improvement for those who need it?

Do you have resilience & adaptability? Can you work effectively with a focus on customer service and care?

If yes, then we'd love to hear from you…

What we offer:

At Victim Support we believe in attracting & retaining the best people and offer a competitive rewards & benefits package including:

• Flexible Working Options: Including hybrid working.
• Generous Annual Leave: 28 days plus Bank Holidays, increasing to 33 days plus Bank Holidays, with options to buy or sell annual leave.
• Birthday Leave: An extra day off for your birthday
• Pension Plan: 5% employer contribution.
• Enhanced Allowances: Enhanced sick pay, maternity, and paternity payments.
• Exclusive Discounts: High Street, retail, holiday, gym, entertainment, and leisure discounts.
• Financial Wellbeing: Access to our financial wellbeing hub and salary-deducted finance.
• Wellbeing Support: Employee assistance programme and wellbeing support.
• Inclusive Networks: Access to EDI networks and colleague cafes.
• Sustainable Travel: Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loans.
• Career Development: Ongoing training and support with opportunities for career progression.

About the Role:

You may be a qualified IDVA or a Domestic Abuse Outreach Worker wanting to work alongside professionals in a multi-agency environment, although we will consider applicants from other fields providing you are able to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge and understanding of both domestic and sexual violence.

This role involves both face to face and virtual support in a hybrid model of working. There is an expectation that you will do a mixture of working from home, our office in Singer Street.

As a DRIVE Independent Domestic Violence Advocate you will:

• Implement effective ways of working with victims and those supporting them to increase safety and reduce harm.
• Provide a high-quality, front-line service to victims of domestic and sexual abuse, delivering a premium service prioritised according to risk, primarily focusing on victim/survivors aged 16+
• Work within a multi-agency framework consisting of the MARAC and local partnership responses to domestic and sexual abuse to keep safety central to all services for victims of domestic and sexual abuse.
• Have excellent communication skills, a proactive approach and the confidence to be able to influence the way in which this service is delivered are key.

You will need to:

• Have a knowledge of help-seeking barriers and support needs of victims of domestic and sexual abuse (in heterosexual or same-sex relationships).
• Have a good understanding of domestic and sexual abuse including the impact of abuse on victims and their children.
• Understand the principles of risk assessment, safety planning and risk management for victims of domestic and sexual abuse and their children.
• Understand safeguarding issues, and the legal responsibilities surrounding these issues.
• Experience of direct service delivery to victims of domestic and sexual abuse or other vulnerable people.
• Have strong communication, negotiation and advocacy skills, both written and verbal when interacting with a range of agencies and individuals. Understand and be committed to equal opportunities and diversity issues in policy and practice.
• Have a strong crisis management skills and the ability to deal with stressful and difficult situations.

Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details.

About Us:

Victim Support is an independent charity dedicated to supporting people affected by crime and traumatic incidents in England and Wales. We put them at the heart of our organisation and our support and campaigns are informed and shaped by them and their experiences.

Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.

At Victim Support, we're proud to celebrate diversity and create a workplace where everyone feels they belong. We're committed to being an antiracist organisation, and we actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, including those from Black and Asian and other minoritised communities.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet all essential criteria for a job where it is practicable to do so. We are also happy to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment and selection process.

How to apply:

To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date. If you have already registered & started an application, then we will contact you to advise of the amended closing date wherever possible.

Housing IDVA - Maternity Cover 6 months 

(£31,537 per annum, 6 month contract - Possible Extension)

Her Centre is a hyper-local women’s charity, providing services to women and girls in Greenwich. We support women and children affected by domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and relationship trauma.

We provide Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) to support women and children by providing emotional support, support to flee abuse and a safety plan. Our services also include free legal support with a family lawyer, a welfare advice hub, training programmes for both women and organisations, and a range of empowerment courses such as ESOL classes, counselling, peer support groups and more to help women build skills, confidence, and independence.

We are seeking a dedicated Housing IDVA to provide maternity cover for 6 months - we offer a 4 day working week as standard full time to promote wellbeing for all of our staff

Role

To provide individual support to women experiencing domestic abuse who present to the Royal Borough Greenwich Housing Team with housing issues or who are at risk of homelessness due to domestic abuse. The Housing IDVA provides specialist support for women with complex housing needs through risk assessments, individual advice sessions, advocacy in court and with other statutory services, and by working directly with the Royal Borough of Greenwich Housing Inclusion Team and Tenancy Services. (The post holder will be colocated between the council offices and Her Centre main office.)

Responsibilities

 1. To provide advice and advocacy for women experiencing domestic abuse by offering crisis intervention, information and support for those who have directly presented to the Housing with housing needs or are at risk of homelessness due to domestic or sexual abuse or violence or any other recognised intimate violence against women and girls.

2. To devise emergency safety plans for survivors, liaising with social services, the Housing Inclusion and Support Team, and refuges to secure emergency housing if needed. To act as point of contact for Housing and work collaboratively with partners to ensure safety of survivors and their children

3. To provide targeted support where women have mental health, substance misuse, complex needs or face other challenges. Where needed, refer to appropriate support services if the survivor has support needs or requires a specialist service, e.g. male survivor to Respect or GALOP, frail older people to Adult Social Services.

4. To carry out risk assessments of women for referrals to MARAC where applicable

5. To develop effective links and partnerships with police and the courts and provide information, advice and support to survivors going through the legal process, explaining the effectiveness of criminal and civil sanctions available.

6. To attend MARAC to represent the needs of survivors, including joint work with the council and other housing bodies to resolve issues about re-housing, the woman’s safety, and legal actions.

7. To comply with safeguarding requirements relating to children and vulnerable adults and explain the safeguarding requirements to the survivor.

8. Maintain and update accurate written and computer records of all cases and share a summary of this information with managers, ensuring that data protection (GDPR) regulations are followed, (within the organisation as well as when communicating with partner organisations).

9. To maintain contact with the survivor at regular (timely) intervals to provide support and ensure her safety, including updates of the risk assessment and safety plan.

10. To respond within the bounds of confidentiality (GDPR), to requests from other agencies for consultations or facilitate direct contact between agencies and service users.

11. To participate in multi-agency workings parties and focus groups, when requested to do so by the Director or your manager.

12. To provide advice and training at a range of locations as requested for both professionals and the public, including being the main point of contact for Housing staff when upskilling or advice is required by the team

13. To keep up to date on research, policy development and other literature relevant to the project. Attend relevant conferences and seminars on behalf of the project.

14. To attend team meetings, relevant meetings with trustees and to be part of Her Centre outreach marketing plan

15. To attend training as identified with your manager and in liaison with the Housing Inclusion & Support Service.

16. To take on other tasks as appropriate as requested by managers or the Trustees

Benefits of working at Her Centre

- A lovely team!

- 4 day working week (full time)

- 1 personal "wellbeing hour" a week

- Work from home 1 day a month

- 2 team-building days out a year

- Training and progression opportunities

- 3% pension contribution

Please note: Due to the intensive and sensitive nature of the support involved, this post is open to women only, as permitted under Section 7(2)(e) of the Sex Discrimination Act.

Closing Date for applications is 20th September 2026 at 5pm, with interviews on the 23rd of September 2026.

Are you looking for a rewarding role within an intersectional feminist organisation? We have an incredible opportunity for a Senior IDVA (MASH) to join Solace Women’s Aid.

Solace exists to end the harm done through gender-based violence. We work to prevent violence and abuse and provide services to meet the individual needs of survivors, particularly women and children. Our work is holistic and empowering, working alongside survivors to achieve independent lives, free from abuse.

Our core values reflect our history and were developed in consultation with staff and service users. Feminism and intersectionality are key to our work, and we are committed to the principles of being survivor-led, trauma-informed, empowering, diverse, anti-racist and anti-discriminatory.

About the Service

Solace Women’s Aid provides a wide range of services to victim/survivors of domestic and sexual abuse in Islington including a large advocacy and support service and specialist projects co-located in a number of services.

About the Role

This exciting role will provide advice and support to other professionals. A key part of this role involves contributing to the local Intimate Partner Violence Panel and Daily Safeguarding Meeting processes; representing survivors at these meetings and action planning alongside other agencies to improve survivor safety. Whilst working with other agencies, the Senior MASH IDVA will strive to keep survivor’s safety at the centre of all coordinated responses. The role involves the line management of frontline IDVAs, and management responsibilities of the overall projects are shared with the Service Manager.

You will be working as part of a multidisciplinary team and collaborating with external agencies in your work.

About You

We're looking for highly organised and self-motivated applicants who are passionate about ending VAWG and safeguarding. You will have a “can-do‟ approach and demonstrable commitment to Solace’s feminist approach to supporting women and their children to be safer. You will receive training and support for this role as necessary. Ideal candidates will have at least 2 years of demonstrable experience of working with victims of domestic and/or sexual violence in a multi-agency setting and a working knowledge of the criminal and civil justice systems.

The candidate will have essential experience of attending multi-agency risk-focused meetings such as MARAC, IPV or MAPPA.

Successful applicants will have in-depth knowledge of domestic abuse and its impact on women and children, demonstrable substantial experience in providing emotional and practical support to victims of VAWG. A relevant qualification in VAWG or significant experience is essential.

Additional Information

This is a hybrid job role with the postholder working one day per week at Solace Head Office and a further day at our offices at Islington council. The remaining days can be remote based with the expectation of working additional days at the office to meet demands of the service.

The postholder will be required to have a relevant accredited VAWG /domestic abuse qualification.

There is an expectation that the successful candidate will be offered a salary at the entry point of the scale,

What we can offer you

We provide a comprehensive benefits package to all our employees, including:

· Flexible working

· Focus on learning and development (internal career progression and training)

· Generous holiday entitlement

· Employer pension contribution

· Family-friendly leave and enhanced maternity pay

· Access to Inclusion Networks

· Daily clinical debriefing

· Two paid wellbeing days

· Employee Assistance Programme providing free 24/7 support and advice

· Employee Benefits Platform offering staff discounts, benefits, and savings

· Flow & Restore yoga classes

· Meditation sessions

· Cycle to Work Scheme

How to apply

Please submit your CV and Supporting Statement through the recruitment portal. When applying for this role, kindly highlight in your Supporting Statement how your values, knowledge, transferable skills, and experience align with each point within the following sections of the Job Profile Document:

· Values, Behaviours & Competencies

· Knowledge, Experience and Skills

Solace Women's Aid values diversity, promotes equity, and challenges discrimination. We encourage and welcome applications from candidates of diverse cultures, abilities, perspectives, and lived experiences.

We have policies and processes in place to ensure that all employees are offered an equal opportunity in recruitment and selection, promotion, training, pay, and benefits. Our Inclusion Networks support staff with protected characteristics and offer inclusive spaces to connect.

We anticipate and provide reasonable adjustments as needed and support employees who acquire a disability or long-term health condition, enabling them to stay in work.

This service is run by women for women and is therefore restricted to female applicants under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, Part 1. Section 7(2)(e) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 applies. The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

As part of safer recruitment practices, we carry out pre-employment checks including references, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and right to work in the UK checks.

No agencies