Tackling domestic abuse through partnership
Our unique partnership with the domestic abuse charity Atal y Fro in Barry has received Royal approval and a prestigious national award from the Howard League for Penal Reform.
Atal y Fro is dedicated to the elimination of domestic violence and provides specialist programmes to help men tackle violent behaviour in a safe, supportive environment.
What makes it different is that it helps the whole family with its holistic and pragmatic approach, supporting couples who wish to stay together safely or separate amicably.
Staff help women seeking to break away from the cycle of domestic violence, provide counselling for children and recognise that women too can sometimes be the violent partner in a relationship.
They also provide education for teachers and other frontline staff and visit schools to speak to pupils about respect in relationships.
The partnership’s motto is Education, Prevention, Intervention in the Community and we believe an early intervention approach designed to help the whole family is the most effective.
Men convicted of domestic violence can reduce their risk of reoffending by taking part in our Integrated Domestic Abuse Programme (IDAP), nine months of weekly group sessions. Men are encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour and take positive steps towards changing it.
Some men are sent to us by the courts, others are referred by social services or choose to refer themselves.
Atal y Fro also provides a Men’s Group, a four month, less structured programme which provides a safe environment for men to discuss their issues. A number of men have graduated from the IDAP and gone on to become mentors for the group.
IDAP was set up by the National Offender Management Service and Welsh Government in 2010 and the Atal y Fro partnership with Wales CRC was recently highly commended in the Howard League community programme awards.
Gus Vowles, Accredited Programme Treatment Manager with Wales CRC, received the award from the Princess Royal.
He said: “Our approach is unique as we provide everything under one roof. We are realistic, we know people have different situations, it’s about managing the safety of both partners and their children.
“We try to keep families together as safely as possible and also help them separate successfully when necessary, it’s a pragmatic approach.”
The programme is one of the few Women’s Aid projects which works with perpetrators and is a great example of how multi-agency working and intervention can achieve positive results.