Women and Girls Network

Who we are

Women and Girls Network (WGN) was established in 1987 and has spent over 30 years supporting women and girls across London affected by gendered violence.

This includes childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, rape, prostitution (including trafficking and sexual exploitation), female genital mutilation (FGM), and so-called ‘honour’ based crimes such as forced marriage.

Our free, women-only and survivor-led service offers a holistic response to women and girls who have experienced, or are at risk of, gendered violence.

The aim of our work is to create a safe, non-judgmental and non-directive space in which women and girls can explore their experiences, and know that they will be listened to and believed. 

WGN is based on feminist principles, which has empowerment as a key concept. We understand that every woman’s healing journey is unique, and our services are designed to offer women the opportunity to travel along on their journey.

Our goal is to promote, preserve, and restore the mental health and wellbeing of women and girls, to empower them to make a total and sustainable recovery from the experiences of violence.

Our culture and values

WGN’s Intention and purpose   

WGN promotes social change that transforms societal attitudes, practices, and policies to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls. We will, in solidarity with others, continue to work intersectionally to end all forms of violence against women and girls. This work will integrate holistic support services, training, activism, strategic advocacy, and policy work.  

Vision  

A world free from violence against women and girls and communities fully mobilised to ensure the safety and dignity of all.  

Our values  

Centering survivors: We honour and celebrate survivors’ wisdom, courage, resistance, and rebellion and resilience. We view survivor’s activism, as a central driving force to all WGN’s activities. We stand in solidarity alongside survivors and aim to preserve, protect, and promote survivors’ dignity, and safety.   

Intersectional Hopeful Disrupters: We are unapologetic in our commitment to dismantle all systems of oppression, and will work in connection, coalition, allyship and solidarity with other social justice movements in the interest of our collective liberation. We embrace the broadest possible view of diversity and recognise the impact of identity to systems of power and influence which effects differing sense of access to support, resources, recognition, and justice. We are committed to the healing of social injustices and achieving equitable, and inclusive practices.   

Trauma transformed, holistic, non-pathologizing, resistance, rebellion and revolutionary love:  The impact of violence is profound, considered as injuries that bruise the soul, creating in its wake the potential for a global and enduring legacy experienced throughout the self.  At WGN we respond to the echo of trauma, working holistically with mind, body, and soul for transformative and restorative healing. 

Collective care: In keeping with WGN’s holistic approach, rooted in revolutionary love, we practice transformative, radical self and collective care interventions to facilitate our professional resilience and personal well-being.  We promote self and collective care strategies, through which women and girls can resource themselves/ourselves, support each other, thrive, resist and rebel.   

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

As a Black Feminist organisation we are actively anti-racist in all that we do. By embracing and adopting an anti-racism approach we are consciously structuring our activism to reflect our values. This means we will never tolerate racism where we see it, and we will challenge and proactively change policies, behaviours, beliefs and systemic barriers that perpetuate racist ideas and actions. This requires solidarity, bravery and honesty in recognising that there remains much to do, but we will continue to stand with our global majority service users and staff to amplify their voices and fight alongside to gain true equity.