Our Impact
Advocacy
Led by and for black and minoritised women, we provide a specialist service to some of society’s most marginalised victims of abuse. We take a comprehensive, deliberate and directed approach to casework by developing comprehensive safety plans, facilitating access to legal advice & representation on issues ranging from family to immigration, securing support from key statutory and voluntary services such as the police, social services, housing authorities & refuges and providing practical and emotional support such as counselling, peer support and therapy work.
60% of the women who use our services are dealing with issues related to their immigration status, have no recourse to public funds (NRPF), and/or are facing destitution. Most have mental health, suicide, and self-harm issues as a result of the trauma of abuse.
Demand for our services was extremely high as a result of the pandemic, with SBS experiencing an average 137% increase in inquiries throughout 2020 and into 2021-22. SBS handled over 700 new cases (in addition to ongoing cases from previous years) and 20,000 helpline inquiries about domestic and sexual abuse, as well as other harmful practices such as forced marriage, dowry-related abuse and honor-based abuse between April 2021 and March 2022.
We also provided specialist transcultural counselling to 50 women and 48 support group sessions in the previous year, as well as 25 educational activities to 100 survivors and their children, such as English classes, socials, outings, discussions, art and craft, and writing workshops.
Our casework and helpline inquiries have a 90% -100% satisfaction rate. We have a 100% success rate in immigration and asylum cases, preventing deportations and helping women and children rebuild their lives in the UK following abuse.
Policy, Campaigns & Research
SBS’s campaigning and policy work reflect the issues that survivors face, and 2022 marked our 30th anniversary of campaigning to reform immigration and NRPF laws. SBS is currently calling for the legal reforms we achieved in previous years the ‘Domestic Violence Indefinite Leave to Remain Rule’ and the ‘Destitution Domestic Violence Concession’ to be extended to all victims of domestic abuse, regardless of immigration status. As a result of successful lobbying during the passage of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, SBS is now leading a UK-wide partnership Support for Migrant Victims pilot scheme funded by the Home Office. We hope that the evaluation of that scheme will contribute to the legal reform required to end the stark choice that some migrant victims currently face between domestic abuse and deportation and destitution.
Many other recent legal and policy victories have occurred, including a landmark case on transnational marriage abandonment in 2022, which allows migrant women abandoned overseas by abusive husbands/partners to re-enter the UK and assert their right to settlement.
In July 2022, we launched No Safe Place by Bekhal Mahmod and Dr Hannana Siddiqui. SBS is now supporting a campaign for ‘Banaz’s Law,’ which would prohibit the use of cultural and religious justifications to justify violence against women and girls.
SBS has also been accepted as a Core Participant in the Covid-19 Inquiry in the autumn of 2022, where we are uniquely positioned to raise concerns about the pandemic’s impact on Black, minoritised and migrant women who are victims of gender-based violence.
OUR SERVICES
Domestic Abuse Helpline
Contact our free and confidential helpline to speak with an expert advisor who will listen to you, offer non-judgmental advice and, when you’re ready, support you to make a plan.
LEARN moreDomestic Abuse Casework
Southall Black Sisters provides holistic advocacy services aimed at helping Black and minoritised women live free from all forms of violence and abuse.
LEARN moreSBS No Recourse fund
Our last-resort No Recourse Fund (NRF) provides a vital safety net for victims with NRPF to access refuge or safe accommodation in order to escape domestic and sexual abuse, prostitution and trafficking and harmful practices.
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