Support services for domestic abuse

Domestic abuse covers a range of types of abuse. Including, but not limited to:

psychological
physical
sexual
economical
or emotional abuse

Domestic abuse can be prosecuted under a range of offences and describes a range of controlling and coercive behaviours, used by one person to maintain control over another with whom they have, or have had, an intimate or family relationship. Domestic abuse is rarely a one-off incident.

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Tower Hamlets support services

Tower Hamlets support services
Organisation	Support	Contact
Victim Support Tower Hamlets Helps: victims of domestic abuse	Free and confidential practical and emotional support to high-risk victims of domestic violence living in Tower Hamlets. Including advocacy, referral and information. The domestic abuse does not have to have been reported to the police. Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) offer one-to-one support and referrals to other specialist agencies e.g. counselling IDVAs provide safety planning and risk assessment for domestic abuse cases. They liaise with criminal justice agencies and housing services to increase safety and will submit third party reports to police if requested by the client.	Refer to Victim Support by completing the DV1 inter-agency referral form Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm Tel: 020 7364 2448 or 020 7364 7957 24 hour support line Tel: 0808 1689 111 Secure email: vs.towerhamlets@victimsupport.cjsm.net Non-Secure email: idva.towerhamlets@victimsupport.org.uk
Tower Hamlets Community Intervention Service (THCIS) Help: Victims of domestic abuse	structured support for individuals living in Tower Hamlets, including those experiencing domestic violence. The support is short-term (up to seven and a half months) and focuses on providing support interventions to people with medium to high unmet needs. They support individuals to avoid crisis, achieve greater stability and link into appropriate local services.	A daily drop-in service offers additional support, including to those with lower level needs. Tel: 020 3222 4027 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Weekends 10am to 6pm Email: communityintervention@lookahead.org.uk
Hestia Helps: victims of domestic abuse Which is specifically aimed at supporting South Asian women & children	Deliver a range of domestic abuse services in London, including a refuge in Tower Hamlets.	Tel: 020 7517 1420 or 020 7858 6500 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Refuges email: Tamara.white@hestia.org robi.bibi@hestia.org
LBTH Domestic Abuse One Stop Shop Helps: victims of domestic abuse	Key members of staff from the Police, LBTH VAWG Team, Housing Options, Victim Support Tower Hamlets, floating support services and a solicitor on rotation are present every week to provide advice, information and signpost victims of domestic abuse to appropriate specialist support services	Drop-in sessions Every Thursday 9.30am to 12.30pm Idea Store Whitechapel Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Tel: 0800 279 5434 (Freephone) Tel: 020 7364 4986 (Landline) Email: domestic.violence@towerhamlets.gov.uk
LBTH Domestic Abuse Helpline for Professionals Helps: Professionals	The council’s professional’s advice and signposting service, delivered by the VAWG Team. The team does not undertake direct casework.	Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Tel: 0800 279 5434 (Freephone) Tel: 020 7364 4986 (Landline) Email: domestic.violence@towerhamlets.gov.uk (Please be advised that this is not an emergency helpline and your call may not be able to be taken immediately. In these cases, please leave a message, stating your name, organisation, contact number and that it is safe to call you back.)
LBTH Sanctuary Project Helps with: Victims of domestic abuse Risk of homelessness	Free tailor-made security for victims of domestic abuse. Run by the council in partnership with Housing. The service is based on a risk assessment and aims to prevent homelessness amongst victims of domestic abuse.	Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Tel: 0800 279 5434 (Freephone) Tel: 020 7364 4986 (Landline) Email: domestic.violence@towerhamlets.gov.uk
LBTH Specialist Domestic Abuse Court (SDAC)	Takes place at Thames and Stratford Magistrates’ Court and deals with most domestic abuse cases. SDACs in England and Wales are specially adapted magistrates’ court hearings which seek to increase the number of successful prosecutions and improve victim safety and satisfaction for domestic abuse victims.	SDAC corodinator Tel: 0207 364 1653 or 07950 848 159 Thames Magistrates Court Tel: 0208 271 1530 or 0208 2711533 London Magistrates Courts Tel: 0300 303 0645 Email: northlondonmc@justice.gov.uk LBTH VAWG Email: domestic.violence@towerhamlets.gov.uk

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Pan-London and National support

Pan-London and National support
Organisation	Support	Contact
Galop- National LGBT Domestic Abuse helpline	Abuse from family, partners, and ex-partners does happen in LGBT communities. Galop is a safe space for service users to talk and think about what they want away from pressure at home. Galop can help service users to explore their options, plan to make themselves safer, look for safe housing and speak with the police.	Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm Wednesday to Thursday, 10am to 8pm Email: help@galop.org.uk Web chat
Refuge's National Domestic Violence Helpline	A national service for women experiencing domestic violence, their family, friends, colleagues and others calling on their behalf. Call this number to search for refuge spaces. support and information from fully trained female helpline support workers. All calls are confidential. Translation facilities for callers whose first language is not English, and a service for callers who are deaf or hard of hearing are available. Voicemail during busy times are checked evry half an hour. Leave a message to be called back with a safe time to do so if appropriate. When returning a call, the Helpline won't leave a message as this may jeopardise individuals’ safety.	24 hours 7 days a week Tel: 0808 2000 247
Solace women's aid network	Provides free and confidential telephone support for women and girls over the age of 14 who have experienced any form of domestic or sexual abuse. providing advice and support with: improving safety, housing and homelessness, finances and welfare benefits, access to legal services and children. As part of the Ascent partnership they work with partner agencies across London who can provide specialist one to one support in clients’ local boroughs and in various languages. Solace has specialist services including The Silver Project (over 55), Irish and Irish Traveller Women’s Project, Empower project (Albanian Speaking Women project), immigration Project and arts therapies.	Tel: 0808 802 5565 Email: advice@solacewomensaid.org

London Black Women’s Project (LBWP)

A domestic violence organisation committed to ending all forms of violence against women and girls.

LBWP provides women-only outcomes-focused services in safe and confidential space through a number of projects to BMER women and girls aged 12+ across East London and Haringey, including those who have experienced or at risk of CSE.

Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 5.30pm

Tel: 0208 472 0528

Email: info@lbwp.online

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VAWG service directory

You can find lots of other useful services on the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) service directory homepage.