South Liverpool Domestic Abuse Services

Who we are

South Liverpool Domestic Abuse Services aim is to enable and support women in South Liverpool to live their lives free from violence, abuse and fear. We are working to empower local communities to challenge violence against women and children whenever and wherever it occurs.

SLDAS offers information, emotional and practical support, advocacy, counselling and selfdevelopment opportunities to women who are or who have experienced abuse from a partner, ex-partner or other person they know. Volunteers play a key role in making these services possible.

We started in the late 1990’s when the issues surrounding domestic abuse were developing a higher profile in South Liverpool and had been identified as one of the key areas of community concern by residents & agencies working in the area. The idea of a domestic violence project for the Speke and Garston areas developed out of discussions at the Community Safety Working Group, focussing on the strategic objective “to improve the quality of life of local people by tackling crime & improving community safety”. Speke Garston Domestic Violence Project was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in May 1998 and registered as a charity in September 1998. In January 2011 we changed the Project’s name to South Liverpool Domestic Abuse Services (SLDAS) and we cover all of South Liverpool. We are an independent charity, run by a group of trustees.

The membership of these groups includes women who live locally as well as women who work for relevant voluntary or statutory organisations. The project is committed to recruiting more local women onto the Board of Trustees, with the aim of becoming an organisation run “by local women for local women”. This long-term aim requires positive action in recruitment, induction & training and we are constantly striving to achieve this. While all our volunteers are important to us, we particularly value the contribution of local women. Although we have been around for quite a few years now, there is still slot of work to be done. In 2021 figures from Merseyside Police revealed that nearly 20,000 more cases of domestic abuse had been reported since the start of the pandemic, as compared with the previous year. There were five domestic homicides recorded in the Liverpool City Region in 2020, and a further three deaths ruled as suicide associated with domestic abuse.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

South Liverpool Domestic Abuse Services (SLDAS) recognises that our staff, volunteers, members and trustees, the organisations we work with in partnerships and the service users we support come from diverse backgrounds and each have different aspirations, needs and experiences life in different ways. Valuing diversity is a key value of SLDAS, and the organisation works to achieve fairness and inclusivity.

We are committed to ensuring that the values of equality, diversity, and respect for all, are embedded into everything that we do to create a culture that respects and values difference. SLDAS is committed to providing equality of opportunity for all and ensuring that no individual or group is discriminated against in the planning or delivery of any of our services or activities.

We will not tolerate the less favourable treatment of anyone on the grounds of their gender, age, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, responsibility for dependents, trade union or political activities, religious or other beliefs, or any other reason which cannot be shown to be justified.

SLDAS supports the Black Lives Matter movement and recognises that action must be taken to overcome entrenched structural racism wherever it exists. Domestic abuse affects women from all racial groups, however for women of colour, the process of seeking and receiving support is made much more difficult because of these structural factors. We have a collective responsibility to acknowledge the existence and impact of racism, injustice and inequality and work towards overcoming them. At SLDAS we recognise that much more must be done to promote genuine equality and to provide woman-centred support that values and embraces diversity amongst the beneficiaries of the organisation’s work. All staff, volunteers, members, Trustees, interns, agency staff and temporary staff, partners and suppliers, have a responsibility to ensure that their own language and actions are consistent with the spirit, as well as the contents, of this policy.