Living with an abusive partner, women often find themselves more and more constrained and controlled – that they have no space to be themselves: no place of their own.
Escaping from violence and abuse, women can begin to be free – to find their place in the world.
As part of this project on women’s journeys to escape abuse, women took part in participatory photography groupwork in London. Some women were London born and bred, and others were from elsewhere in the country, or elsewhere in the world.
But London was now their place.
Over weekly sessions, participants used their photography and captions to communicate their experiences, producing images, maps and collages for themselves, for the group, for display in women’s services, and for wider presentation through the research. Sometimes they were exploring parts of London they didn’t know – and the photographs show their exploration.
Women shared images of what London meant to them – how the city was becoming – or re-becoming – their home.
This short video shows some of their images of London as their place to be.