About Me

Broken Rainbow is the only UK-wide domestic violence service offering confidential support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people. In addition to our helpline (see number below) we work to raise awareness around the devastating impact domestic violence can have on victims’ lives, by providing training and support to generic domestic violence agencies and others. Broken Rainbow is keen to build links with individuals and organisations throughout the UK, so get in touch if you think we can help you in any way. Contact: Website - www.broken-rainbow.org.uk Administration - 08452 60 55 60 e-mail - mail@broken-rainbow.org.uk HELPLINE: 08452 60 44 60 Opening times: Monday 2-8pm, Wednesday 10-1pm, Thursday 2-8pm Domestic abuse affects around one in four LGBT people in the UK. It is not always physical; it can take many forms including emotional, financial and sexual abuse. It can include controlling a person’s contact with family and friends, withholding affection, isolation and verbal threats. IN AN EMERGENCY: CALL 999

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Friday, January 15, 2010

Broken Rainbow UK presents its LGBT History Month CHARITY CELEBRATION AND FUNDRAISER EVENT IN LONDON

 

 

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

LGBT People Experiencing Domestic Violence Ignored Under New Conservative Plans

During the festive period, calls to all domestic violence helplines increase as the stresses and strains and broken promises of a new year and new start all fall down. This year, especially, there are the added pressures brought on by redundancies, financial uncertainty and the house price slump. 
 
Last week David Cameron promised to spend an extra £2.6m to help women experiencing rape, domestic violence, forced marriages and trafficking, omitting the 1 in 4 LGBT people experiencing domestic violence in the UK . In an interview with BBC's Woman's Hour, he pledged a cross-departmental strategy on tackling violence against women. The current Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said she will launch a consultation on improving the safety of women, "in their homes, at work and in public."
 
Jo Barringer, Chair of Trustees of Broken Rainbow, said, "It is surprising and disappointing that lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people have been so obviously omitted in the Conservative Party plans. It is even more surprising as the Conservatives have many gay, lesbian and bisexual MPs. However, even with the current Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, we are seeing a blinkered descriptive of those suffering from domestic violence. Domestic violence is not just a women's issue; it is an issue suffered by all, regardless of race, religion, gender and sexuality, etc. It is a human condition."
 
Interim CEO of Broken Rainbow, Rita Hirani, added, "With no specialised LGBT refuges and a lack of training for services dealing with domestic violence survivors and perpetrators has meant that our community is in a void, where those meant to help us do not even have the training to tell common assault from instances of domestic violence. As such the LGBT community is perpetually being held back from moving forward and this is borne out in statistics."
 
With very few provisions in place to help LGBT people experiencing domestic violence and abuse, under reporting is rife which is leading to a lack of improvement in repeat instances of domestic violence incidents. 
 
We askfor thought to be put into more inclusive public statements from the Government and Opposition parties, and also increased support and funding for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities regarding domestic violence and abuse. 


Our helpline is 08452 60 44 60 

Our website is www.broken-rainbow.org.uk 

Broken Rainbow is funded by the Home Office and the CEO post by Nationwide Foundation. 

Research: Count Me In Too survey, Dr Kath Browne http://www.spectrum-lgbt.org/downloads/CMIT/CMIT_DV_Report_final_Dec07.pdf

Comparing domestic violence in same sex relationships, Dr Catherine Donovan, M Hester, J Holmes and M Mc Carry: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/downloads/FPCW/cohsarfinalreport.pdf

Labels: domestic violence

Friday, August 15, 2008

WRC Policy Forum

We were extremely pleased to be asked back as a member of the Women’s Resource Centre Policy Forum. If you do not know, the Women’s Recource Centre…well, let me take it off of their site because they sure tell it a lot better than I could:

The Women’s Resource Centre supports women’s organisations to be more effective and sustainable. We provide training, resources and support to women’s organisations and we campaign and lobby on key issues for the sector.


Their forum has been going since 2003. It is a great chance for us as an organisation to highlight issues surrounding lesbian and bisexual domestic violence and abuse.

30th September is the 5th birthday, as well, so it should be extra special.

Labels: forums, WRC

We signed up to…

…everyclick.

Like an edition of Lost, I hear you all cry, “what?”

Everyclick is a search engine just like google. However, every time you search the charity whose search box you use, gets…0.1p, or something.

Yes, well, we’re not going to get to buy a LGBT refuge next week with the clicks - but it would be nice if you could use it once a week? If we all did then we could fund our next poster campaign or leaflet drop. Yes, we are funded, but we run a tight ship.

Anyway, here it is

Bookmark the page and return once a month? And consider that your charity donation

From: Broken Rainbow Office

Labels: charity, donate, every click

West Oxfordshire...

...community safety partnership is the latest authority to launch the sanctuary scheme, meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people experiencing domestic violence and abuse, can apply to receive funds to make their houses more secure from their abuser.

Jodie Foster made them famous and now over 171 local authorities in England have followed suit. Panic rooms for victims of domestic violence are being fitted with spy glass, mortice locks, bolts and steel hinges to make their chosen rooms safe if their abusive partner returns. If the police feel there is significant risk, fireproof letterboxes, and second phone lines can also be installed.

It started in 2002 when the Crime Reduction Unit (CRU) at Harrow Police Station identified the need to protect victims of repeat domestic violence incidents, and not by moving them away from their home (and uprooting entire families: children moving schools, mothers or fathers finding new jobs, etc). They wanted individuals to regain control in their own homes, and they needed to deal with the honest fact that perpetrators of domestic violence would often return to the home to try to inflict more fear.

They needed a plan. And with the help of London Borough of Harrow Housing Department they started the Sanctuary Scheme.

The government has allocated £47.2 million to local authorities to help them tackle homelessness. This is the pot that can, if a local authority decides to take up the project, be used to fund Sanctuary Schemes.

East Riding Of Yorkshire council have found it is not always appropriate to secure just one room in rural/remote properties and are improving security of the whole property.

Some councils have gone so far as to take up on Fones4Safety Scheme which takes old and unwanted mobile phones and reprogrammed them so 999 can be dialled by pressing any button.

However, critics of the scheme have been damning. The End Violence Against Women coalition said the approach was, “mopping up the problem once it has occurred, rather than working to ensure that women no longer experience violence.”

Whatever your thoughts on the matter, the option to…well, have an option is always welcomed.

From: Broken Rainbow Office

References: Publications and records, Daily Hansard - Written Answers: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070117/text/70117w0022.htm [accessed: 26.3.8]

Polly Curtis and Alison Benjamin, Councils fund ‘panic rooms’ for domestic violence victims: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2006/feb/22/socialcare.politics [accessed 26.3.8]

Communities for local government, Options for Setting up a Sanctuary Scheme: http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/154295 [accessed 25.3.8]

Harrow Police, Sanctuary Scheme, http://www.met.police.uk/boroughs/Harrow/sanctuary_leaflet_december%202007.pdf [accessed 26.3.8]

Oxford Mail, http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.2421505.0.panic_rooms_to_halt_violence.php
[accessed 11.08.08]

Labels: lgbt dv, sanctuary schemes

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Margate – sunny Devon...

...and rain!

This week ended with a trip to sunny Margate where we shared a stall at Thanet Pride with our colleagues from Unison South East LGBT Committee. We are doing 4 Prides altogether with Unison over the summer – Oxford, Reading and of course the biggy next week at Brighton.

Thanet Pride was a small affair. The sun shined brightly, the day trippers were out in force on the beach and a dedicated team of the North Kent LGBT community were working hard on their second Pride event. We were pitched near the main stage and had a good view of the entertainment including the “Boy George experience”. I overheard one young lady telling her boyfriend that it definitely was him and that she was staying to watch. He didn’t look too happy - obviously not a Boy George fan or was it that he wasn’t comfortable being surrounded by a large number of rainbow bedecked individuals singing along to all the hit numbers! You decide?

Although we made a few contacts and had a number of conversations with people who had experienced domestic violence, the numbers who visited our stall were not high. Having said that it is important that national organisations support local groups in their efforts to put on prides and celebrate our sexuality – so hopefully there will be more people there next year and more national organisations having stalls.

Before I ventured to the seaside, we had spent the previous two days interviewing for our two vacancies. I was delighted with the standard of the candidates and feel we have found two excellent individuals to be our Helpline Operations Co-ordinator and our Training & Marketing consultant. They will hopefully be in place in September and I am looking forward to welcoming them to the team.

I am at present sitting in North Devon enjoying a couple of days rest away from work at the timeshare holiday retreat of my significant other! Sadly the sun which we all enjoyed at the weekend, left North Devon the moment I arrived and it has been overcast and rainy ever since. Oh well the place has got a nice indoor swimming pool to enjoy.

On Saturday it is of course Brighton Pride - large numbers as ever expected and the weather forecast is good. This is one of the biggest LGBT events in the calendar and we hope to make many contacts and get our message out to many people in our community about the existence of the domestic violence within same sex relationships and equally importantly the help that is available out there for victims and survivors through our national LGBT domestic violence helpline (08452 604460). Do come and visit us at the stall and please let me know what you think of the website and the blog.

So it is almost August…hopefully the sun will return, if you are going to Brighton, come and see us, have fun, be safe, enjoy and be proud of who you are.

Labels: holidays, lgbt dv

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Press Release:

Monday, July 28, 2008

The sun was shining…

…the birds were chirping, somebody outside our office in Southwark had found their car horn and was beeeeeeeping it furiously, and then the buzzer went. It was Denise from Spectrum London!

We met Denise at our re-launch. She was representing Spectrum London, the trans peer support forum for all trans people and those questioning their gender. Denise is also a trustee of LGBT Consortium – an organisation who have helped Broken Rainbow with many things (and grateful we are, too. Working with other LGBT organisations is fundamental to providing a good service to users).

Anyway. Denise came in and we had a very productive two hour meeting on how we can serve the trans community better. Trans people can face different issues to those of the LGB community, including the limited refuge space, and the risk of support agencies making inappropriate presumptions about a person’s gender and sexuality.

It seems that many organisations adopt the LGBT moniker but fail to provide for the T. It shouldn’t be a tick box to check, it should be something you actively try to work on. And as such, we came away with some great plans for working with Denise to help trans people who experience domestic violence and abuse, including perhaps running a survey on trans experiences and needs.

Signed: Broken Rainbow Office Team

If you have any ideas of your own regarding improving our service to the trans community then email us at mail@broken-rainbow.org.uk

Labels: domestic violence, lgbt dv, trans

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

This is what...

... we are up against!

Sitting in the office this morning and discussing the published Hansard record of Iris Robinson MP last month when she spoke at the Northern Ireland Grand Committee.
Iris Robinson is the MP for Strangford, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly and chair of the Assembly’s health committee. This is what she said:

“There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children. There must be sufficient confidence that the community has the best possible protection against such perverts.”

I am totally fed up with religious bigots, who, because of their belief in a God, feel they have the right to pass judgement on me. They have this belief that their morality is somehow better than mine, that they feel they have the right to condemn me, and to say that what I practise in the privacy of my own home is immoral, vile and disgusting – all because they believe their God tells them so. And you can’t argue logically with them because God says it and therefore they are right!!
Funny that. I have many gay friends who are Christians and who have no issues between their faith and their sexuality. At our celebration event earlier this month we were delighted to have the Reverend Richard Kirker, from the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement as one of our guests.
http://www.lgcm.org.uk
I don’t believe in the existence of God but I respect the right of other people to have their own faith. What I object to is their lack of respect for me and my beliefs. The suggestion that I am immoral is one that I find particularly offensive. To say that the love between two people of the same sex is more vile than child abuse must be the one of the most offensive things I have ever heard.
I was a police officer for 11 years, I upheld the law without fear or favour and I was involved in the arrest detention and charge of many criminals including paedophiles. Funny thing though, I don’t ever recall being involved in the arrest of anybody for being gay…but then Mrs Robinson in all your hatred and bile, you forget one thing …it is not illegal to be gay in the UK or across Europe.
Sadly it is still in 77 countries in the world, perhaps you would like to go and live in one of those Mrs Robinson, but then again some of those wouldn’t let you practise your religion there as you would be an apostate and it would be a criminal offence to preach about your God. You’ve got a choice. In the UK you have freedom of speech but that goes hand in hand with my freedoms too, and that includes the freedom to be gay.
My morality is no less than yours Mrs Robinson just because I happen to be gay!
The bigotry of Mrs Robinson is matched by many in the world. This week news emerged from Turkey of a killing of a young gay man because of his sexuality.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-8437.html
The young man is believed to have been killed by family members because he was gay and his boyfriend, a German national has had to leave the country fearing for his own life. The hatred that exists within some communities to those who are gay is saddening. Whether it is with DUP politicians in Northern Ireland or families in Turkey or preachers in fundamentalist religions, they all share one thing in common – a hatred of homosexuality.
And let us not think that our country is immune. Our national lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans domestic violence helpline receives calls from young men and women who are at risk from honour killings or forced marriages because in the eyes of their families being a gay man or a lesbian is not an option. They either conform or be ostracised or even worse get murdered.
Our wonderful staff and volunteers on the helpline listen to those in need of help, advice and support. It is not an easy task and is demanding in terms of personal commitment. They do a wonderful job. If you think you could help us in our work, then get in touch. See our website for all contact details.
www.broken-rainbow.org.uk
We need to fight this bigotry at all levels, to stand beside those who are subjected to such hate and violence. But we can only do this if we stand together, make an issue, campaign and challenge for our rights as citizens to live our lives peacefully without fear of violence, hatred or discrimination. I was born a citizen of the United Kingdom and I expect the same rights and respect as any other person in this country. The freedom to walk down the street holding hands with my boyfriend without fear of violence, the freedom to be myself… is that too much to ask?

Why should I be treated differently because I am gay and I happen to love another man.

Labels: lgbt dv

Monday, July 21, 2008

Another busy week...

…at Broken Rainbow. The first couple of days I spent in the office catching up with paperwork and having a couple of meetings.

Met with the City of London Police to discuss how we can do some work together on same sex domestic violence. Although the city has very small resident population, it does deal with a surprisingly high number of domestic violence incidents between same sex couples. We explored ideas about joint advertising of both our services to encourage victims to report. I shall develop this idea further once I have met with Islington Police on Monday. Islington has one of the highest numbers of LGBT population within the capital and thriving and active LGBT community.

Wednesday was spent in the lovely seaside city of Brighton. It was a lovely day, sun shining and a nice sea breeze. We were down there to discuss new service delivery developments within the city. The Independent Domestic Violence Advisory (IDVA) service nationally has taken off over the last few years, and now areas with a large LGBT populations are thinking about having dedicated LGBT people in the role.

Brighton already has a good IDVA service run by the Women’s Refuge Project.

Funding has been secured to have a Gay Mens’ IDVA for the city and this will certainly help to increase support and help for GBT men.

In addition there is to be further research carried out into the nature and extent of LGBT domestic violence in the city and will recommend ways to increase reporting. This work will build on the Count Me In Too research carried out last year by Dr Kath Brown at the University of Sussex. The work will be done by a development officer.

So, exciting developments in Brighton and this will hopefully be a pilot for other such work elsewhere in the UK.

To find out more about IDVAs follow the link to CAADA’s website. CAADA train the IDVAs across the UK

http://www.caada.org.uk/aboutus.html

After lots of talk, we adjourned to a favourite watering hole, sitting outside in the sun reflecting on the day and enjoying the pleasant early evening. Brighton is a vibrant city, always something to see, lots going on, fresh sea air…. a move one day to the seaside…?

Thursday and it must be Leicester. I was in the city for The Women’s Aid National Conference at the University. Rita and I were running a workshop on the experience of lesbian women and domestic violence. A group of 14 delegates attended and our presentation was well received with lots of interaction between those present–some of whom had worked with victims and survivors of same sex domestic violence. Many had heard Rita interviewed on Women’s Hour a coupe of weeks ago and were thus keen to know more.

Enjoyed a relatively quiet weekend, playing squash on Sunday as usual before undoing all the good with a pint and a chat after! Ah well, off swimming tonight at the gym to keep the levels of fitness up!