voices

Disabled women escaping abuse – mobility and transport

Every woman’s journey to escape domestic abuse is unique, and many will not include formal services in their help-seeking. Responses should always aim to respect women’s rights and needs – and listen to their unique experiences.

But it can be useful to generalise – to some extent – to recognise shared experiences and similarities and differences. There are some commonalities, for example for older women, for women with or without children, for disabled women. Particular groups of women are less likely to use particular types of services – or less likely to seek formal help (or more likely to be turned away if they do).

Over 10% of women in the administrative data in this research were disabled. This includes being disabled in a wide range of ways – as well as by inadequate and inappropriate responses to their needs. Nearly 15,000 of the women who accessed support services due to domestic violence were recorded as disabled.

They may be disabled because of the abuse from the perpetrator – due to the impact on their physical or mental health.

In this research, Parveen was temporarily disabled by having broken her leg whilst staying in temporary accommodation: she had become trapped in a bathroom and was unable to summon any help, so ended up jumping out of a window. Beyond the typical difficulties of a train journey with a broken leg, she talked about how she was unable to reassure her one-year-old daughter by having her on her lap:

“I was on two crutches, so it was very difficult. My daughter wanted to be on my lap all the time, but I couldn’t – and I had bags and everything.”

When she arrived at her destination she was entirely dependent on being met:

“I didn’t see anyone at the train station – so the train staff helped me, and I was in a wheelchair. And then the refuge staff came after about five minutes.”

Many women have multi-stage journeys, and this research showed that journey segments by disabled women were significantly more likely to be by private transport rather than either public transport or the help of others (see the graph below), suggesting that disabled women who manage to escape abusive partners may need to have such independence.

This may reflect the additional barriers to disabled women’s mobility – such as difficulties in using public transport – and the independence necessary for their escapes.

In this research, Maud talked about how she felt her car was essential:

“I need transport because I’m not well – I can’t stand at a bus stop, I can’t stand at a train station; even if I’m sitting down the cold gets into me and I can’t move – because of the arthritis. So – I have to have a car – it’s not that I’m spoilt, it’s a necessity – it’s part of me, a car!”

Disabled women should not be assumed to be more dependent and needy – in fact, they are no more or less likely to self-refer to services than other women. But they are more likely to have longer engagement with services – being significantly more likely to stay in a service for 6 months or more. And services need to be responsive to their needs – there are only a few services which specifically respond to the needs of disabled women – like Stay Safe East, which is run by and for disabled people.

Cheers to a New Life! – Think Happy!

Every year the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25^th November) is linked to International Human Rights Day (10^th December) via the internationally-recognised “16 days of activism”.

It’s a tough reminder of the extent of violence against women – and the ongoing struggle for women’s rights as human rights.

During these 16 days it can be painful to be thinking about the level of abuse and violence, and the consequences for each woman, and for society as a whole.

We can feel overwhelmed.

So it’s vital also to see these days as days of activism against abuse and inequality – and to focus on the positives and the achievements.

As part of this project on women’s journeys away from abuse, women took part in participatory photography groupwork in London. 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.

One of the strongest messages they wanted to share – amongst themselves and to wider audiences – was their positive experiences of escaping abuse.

Women shared images of celebrating a new start, of what made them happy, and photographs of inspiring signs they saw:

Time to be wise
Think Happy
Today is your lucky day

This short video shows some of their images of positive messages to encourage other women escaping abuse.

Here There and Everywhere

However much women try to stay put and stay safe from domestic abuse, the threat of the abuser often means that they have to relocate. They are forced into journeys of escape – whether to friends or family, or to an unknown place.

Anywhere they can find some safety.

Women use all kinds of forms of transport in their journeys – they may be hiding in plain sight amongst everyone else on public transport, or in their own car, trying to concentrate on the route and fearful of the destination.

As part of this project on women’s journeys, participatory photography was carried out with groups of women in three areas of London: two groups in women’s refuges where women would soon be on the move again, and one at a women’s centre with women who were beginning to resettle. 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.

This short video shows some of their images of different means of transport, and different signposts on the way.

Images and captions by women on the move due to domestic abuse show their experiences and insights on ‘Transport yourself to a better place’
© Amy, Carol, Cordelia, Daisy, Lucy, Marilyn, Sarah, Shalom/Solace Women’s Aid/Janet Bowstead

Cordelia had come to London to escape abuse, and saw the plentiful public transport as a positive way of feeling in control – of starting to settle in a new place. She said,

“When I first came to London I used to – because I didn’t know the area – I’d just get on any bus and travel around so that I could learn the city.”

A message she spotted on the side of a bus became a message for her life – used as the title of the video:

“Transport yourself to a better place. I just really liked the message because that’s what a lot of us do. I kind of like, you know, I’ve always transported myself – Here There and Everywhere.”

Amy highlighted the signs and signposts on her travels around London, like the contrast between a way seeming to be blocked – “No Exit” – and a positive route forward – “Way Out”.

She said, “I was thinking about how much I hid for so long and didn’t signal anything”, but that now she had received support from a women’s centre as a way out of the violence and abuse.

Maps and signposts – like the London A-Z, and arrows and finger posts – are welcomed as a positive help – and an opportunity. As Daisy said:

“We have a signpost! Any way you want to go!”

Serious Games – Journeyscape or Journeybreak?

The women’s journeys card game developed as part of this research will be played in a workshop session this Friday at an international geography conference. Players will attempt to navigate journey stages and distances away from abuse, towards settled accommodation in a safe location. On the way, they will face the ‘chance’ elements that can allow them to leap forward or fall back on their journey.

It is part of a session on “Serious Games” at the RGS-IBG Conference in London.

“Serious games” use the interactions and norms of games – from playing cards or board games to online gaming – to engage and inform in ways that other methods cannot. They may be used in policy contexts to involve decision-makers in addressing problems, in practice contexts to encourage professionals to deepen their understanding and in teaching contexts to generate insights and empathy.

They are still games: fun and entertainment, even competitiveness, are important, but the games also address serious issues and aim to achieve real world outcomes. The goal is not the game itself, but the discussion and potential action that follow.

Serious Games are used to involve participants in thinking about a wide range of difficult issues: examples can be found from migration, to health, to forestry.

Games in the session address a wide range of geographical issues from mapping flood recovery to tackling racist narratives and hateful messages, from mapping journeys for women escaping domestic violence to system mapping future access to fruit and vegetables, and to mapping journeys in the USA to access abortion.

Serious and difficult topics – and the workshop provides the opportunity for manageable debates and respectful interactions by using the method of “Serious Games”.

Time to be wise – Think Happy

Women in the creative groupwork for this research produced images and captions –messages for other women they imagined making domestic violence journeys in the future – wanting to encourage and inspire them in their journeys from abuse to freedom.

Many of their images were of slogans and messages they spotted – that spoke to them.

They might be in the middle of difficulties and uncertainties – but sometimes a positive message they spotted cheered them up.

And they wanted to share the images – to help other women in their progress on their journeys away from violence and abuse: and towards freedom.

Time to be wise. © Daisy/Solace Women’s Aid/Janet Bowstead

Think Happy. © Marilyn/Solace Women’s Aid/Janet Bowstead

Many more images and captions are in the report from this research.

Steps forward to a better life

A picture can tell a powerful story – a way for women’s voices to be heard.

Their journeys had often been long – difficult – and they faced further relocation and uncertain futures.

Many of the image stories were about the small steps – but also about the sense of progress.

Sarah celebrated her new life with her two sons – safe away from the abuser – and recognised the steps forward they were taking. She emphasised that it was not just a new life…. but a better life for them all.

Steps forward to a better life, full of love, wealth and smiles all round

Many more images and captions are in the report from this research.

You can’t walk over us no more

Women in the creative groupwork for this research produced images and captions for other women they imagined making domestic violence journeys in the future – wanting to encourage and inspire them in their journeys from abuse to freedom.

Sarah celebrated her life with her two sons – safe away from the abuser.

When four becomes three!

She poignantly and powerfully combined her and her sons’ hands and shoes – showing how strong they were together now.

© Sarah/Solace Women’s Aid/Janet Bowstead

Her message to the abuser was:

You can’t walk over us no more

Her message to herself and her sons was:

We’re in power because 3 Beats 1

A picture can tell a powerful story – a way for women’s voices to be heard. Many more images and captions are in the report from this research.

‘Tain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It)

Social science research investigates ‘topics’ that are actually the lived experience of people. Whilst all research into people’s lives involves their participation in some respect (whether or not they know about it), it is the engagement (or not) with issues of power, social justice and inequality that matters when thinking about ‘participatory’ research.

Academic research supported by an institution will need to consider the ethics of people’s participation – what do they know about the research? how are they being treated? will they benefit? is there a risk of harm? But rather than a one-off consideration of ‘ethics’, social research should ensure ongoing self-questioning of the quality of interactions from the start of thinking about the work right the way through.

Taking on board these interactions, researchers may work with community, voluntary or third sector groups, and the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) has published a series of guides about working with voluntary and community organisations.

The guides consider research about health, disability and care, through to austerity, violence, and creative collaborations. They ask questions about the way such research is done – to draw on the experience of groups and organisations, but not in a one-way extractive relationship. Community groups will have hard-won insights and experience – knowledge that may not be in the academic literature. They will have ideas about which areas need further research – and which just need political and practical action (not yet more research!).

The guide on working with groups opposing violence against women draws on this research project – highlighting key aspects of research design; and providing suggestions for how to carry out further research.

It’s about committing to the process of how such research is done – not just what you do…. but the way that you do it….

That’s what gets results!!

Finding the Way Out from abuse

In the isolation of an abusive relationship it can be very difficult to see a way out.

Women seek help, seek support, seek information, seek hope. They often make complicated emotional, practical and geographical journeys. They may not know what the next stage will be – or what they need to prepare themselves and their children to face. They may find their options limited and their way blocked.

Women in the creative groupwork for this research produced images, posters and messages for women they imagined making such journeys in the future – wanting to encourage women in their journeys from abuse to freedom. The posters were then put on display in the women’s refuges and centre where the women met.

Amy took many photographs on her travels around London – often noticing signs and slogans that she related to her journey away from abuse. She saw this sign on the Underground as reminding her of when she felt that there was no exit for her and her son from the abuse.

But she also took a more hopeful image – one that reassured her that there was a way out. The group of women loved that image and its message, and wanted it as a poster to put up in the centre where they met. The original image was made into a mosaic of hundreds of their photographs: the idea of combining everyone’s contribution into one image, and one strong message:

There is a Way Out from abuse!

Shared space – Shared food – Shared belonging

Where can women escaping domestic violence find a sense of belonging?

The actions of an abusive partner or husband often force you out of a sense of belonging at home – even if you don’t actually leave.

As Gloria said in an interview for this research:

“He would bring his friends, and have fun – while I was just stuck in the bedroom; I was living in the bedroom – he didn’t want to see me in the lounge. […] So, to me – what was the point of torturing my soul in that house? I might as well leave and go and stay under a bridge where there’s nobody there to torment me.”

And if you leave, you may end up staying with friends or family (if it’s safe), stay in temporary accommodation, or go to a women’s refuge where you don’t know anybody.

You may have to share kitchens, bathrooms in the refuge – even if you don’t, you will be sharing other rooms and other space. That can be difficult – unchosen communal living – but it can also be a place of connection and support. Support for yourself, as you meet other women who have been through similar experiences; and also support for children – friendships, playrooms, and childworkers.

The shared space can become a positive space – a space of shared belonging .

In the participatory photography groupwork for this research, Shalom shared images from shared food in the refuge:

“Last week, me and some of the ladies – I went to show them Brixton, because they had never been – so we bought these crabs – because she knew how to cook them really well.”

“And these are mackerel – grilled mackerel – and these are like baked sweet potatoes, but they are a different kind – not the regular reddish kind – they are a bit longer, a bit tougher, and when you bake them they don’t just fall apart like the red ones do, you know. And that’s rice, and we had the giant prawns in the rice; and then broccoli.”

“We didn’t have any special thing to eat them, so we just cracked them open – we found a way around them, with hands – with teeth – with spoons; and then we found a way. It was really good – we had a laugh! We had so much – we couldn’t eat all of it! It tasted so good!”

“We didn’t plan it – it was a very random thing; but I think we’re going to plan it next time for the house. We are thinking that we should make it like a house thing; because this was like very random – I went to show them Brixton and then we went into the shops, and they wanted fruit, and then we ended up seeing the crabs – crabs! – so we got the crabs, and then the other things – and cooked it together.”

“We just laid everything out – so we could eat; and a lot of dancing and singing! – while we were cooking. It was a lot of fun!”