Women on the move due to violence and abuse are home-less. They, and their children, are forced to leave the home they knew – and do not know when they will have a ‘home’ again.
‘Home’ can mean the four walls – somewhere to stay – but it can also mean much more: a sense of belonging, comfort, safety and happiness.
Sometimes, women on the move due to abuse will say that they can never imagine feeling truly at home again.
The participatory work in this project provided time and space for women to be creative – to communicate their experiences of forced relocation and tentative resettlement. Groups held in women’s refuges and a women’s centre were a temporary creative space – for women who would soon be on the move again.
This short video shows some of their images and captions about home: the temporary sense of ‘home’ in a women’s refuge, the mundane bits and bobs and rubbish of home, and moving into a new home. The images show home-making: beginning to lay out your things in a new place – like Qiana’s perfumes – and creating a space of wellbeing – whether by scented candles, a relaxing bath, traditional home-made food, or symbols of belief and religion. As Marita says – a home is somewhere where you can “Make some noise!”