Broken Rainbow LGBT Domestic Violence

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

2010-01-15T09:33:00.000Z

Hello, all. Hope you all had a pleasant holiday season. Now, if the snow has made you glum then I have a solution:

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

Party with a purpose!

Saturday 20th February from 9pm to 2am

at The Wall Bar
(45 Old Broad Street, London, EC2N 1HU Liverpool Street Tube station)

Join us for an evening of entertainment, mingling, dancing, raffle, games and surprises in a smart London City venue on 3 floors!

Main dancefloor to groove to world and pop / dance music by Guest DJs
Mezzanine & Loft to mingle, chill and showcase your agency publicity material

(Agency Promotion Space must be booked) via events@broken-rainbow.org.uk

There will be entertainment, mingling, dancing, raffle and surprises!

Entrance/Donation is £15 (MRRA)

Tickets are limited, so get yours online NOW on http://www.broken-rainbow.org.uk/fundraisingevent.html

Entry Conditions:
Paypal Receipt & Card used for payment must be produced on arrival.
Over 18yrs MRRA

Feel free to send the invitation to your friends and mailing list! http://www.broken-rainbow.org.uk/images/invite2.gif

ACCESS: we regret that the venue is not wheelchair accessible

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Aimee White

Office Manager

Broken Rainbow

www.broken-rainbow.org.uk

Office: 08452 60 55 60

Helpline: 0300 999 LGBT (5428)

Follow our blog: http://brokenrainbowlgbt.wordpress.com/

LGBT People Experiencing Domestic Violence Ignored Under New Conservative Plans

2009-01-21T08:27:00.001Z

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

WRC Policy Forum

2008-08-15T13:37:00.001+01:00

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.

We signed up to…

2008-08-15T13:36:00.000+01:00

…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

West Oxfordshire...

2008-08-15T13:35:00.000+01:00

...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]

Margate – sunny Devon...

2008-08-06T08:20:00.001+01:00

...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.

Press Release:

2008-07-30T13:44:00.000+01:00

Broken Rainbow Expresses Concern Over Proposed Domestic Violence Law Amendments

As the only national charity that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans victims and survivors of domestic violence, Broken Rainbow welcomes the opening of dialogue on the thorny issue of the laws surrounding the classification of murder and self defence in domestic violence cases; but believes that the current contents of the consultation document announced today only begins to scratch the surface of the various types of domestic violence and abuse. The report focuses upon women facing domestic abuse from their male partners, and not upon the 1 in 6 men facing domestic abuse, and the 1 in 4 LGBT people facing domestic abuse from same-sex partners. Broken Rainbow receives 60% of its calls from men experiencing abuse from their male partners. Also on the rise are calls from trans people.

Cases of domestic abuse should never be allowed to reach the stage where the victim is compelled to kill their abuser. There are always options available to victims including calling dedicated LGBT support agencies such as Broken Rainbow – 08452 60 44 60 and www.broken-rainbow.org.uk – who can help and support victims to feel safe in their own home, or to leave an abusive situation.

Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, said today: “There is no excuse for domestic violence, let alone taking a life. Whatever happens in a relationship does not justify resorting to violence. So men who kill their wives will no longer be able to claim, ‘It’s her fault, she provoked me’.”

Domestic violence (DV) and abuse is devastating, affecting 1 in 4 people in the UK at some point in their lives, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

Melvin Hartley, C.E.O. of Broken Rainbow states that, "The lack of awareness around the subject for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans victims compounds what is already a difficult situation.

Not only can these individuals not access mainstream services without outing themselves, they face a dearth of dedicated services tailored to their needs. For example, services such as refuge spaces that are usually available to women, are far more difficult to access for lesbian and bisexual women, and are practically impossible for trans people to access."

Chair of Broken Rainbow, Jo Barringer, said, “This is an opportunity to ensure that all communities are represented and their voices heard. Domestic abuse is an insidious crime which poisons both the physical and emotional well being of all victims regardless of their gender or sexuality”.

Broken Rainbow LGBT Domestic Violence Service is keen to draw out the wider implications of the proposed amendments to the consultation launched today regarding changes to the way murder and self defence are classified.

The sun was shining…

2008-07-28T12:23:00.001+01:00

…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

This is what...

2008-07-22T11:39:00.001+01:00

... 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.

Another busy week...

2008-07-21T14:45:00.001+01:00

…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!

Domestic...

2008-07-18T09:04:00.001+01:00

...violence in the LGBT Community.

Article in NCSN monthly newspaper for July 2008. Thought you might like to read it.

Research shows that the prevalence of domestic violence in same sex relationships is just as high as it is in heterosexual ones. Awareness and acknowledgement of the issue is however low and there is real lack of available services for victims and survivors to access. Recent legislative changes like the introduction of Civil Partnerships and the Equality Act 2006 have made same sex couples more visible and this has as a result made the existence of domestic abuse within those relationships more visible too.

Domestic violence affects the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community at the same rate as that of domestic violence in general. Research has generally shown that around 1 in 4 LGBT people will at some point experience homophobic, transphobic and/or same sex domestic violence in their lives.

The LGBT community is a cross-section of society and can experience multi-discrimination from services providers and their communities. LGBT victim/survivors who experience domestic violence find it difficult to approach services and often stay in the abusive relationship for fear being outed, or having to out themselves in order to get support. LGBT people face further stigmatisation and isolation from agencies and their communities because same sex domestic violence is not generally recognised.

There is a need for mainstream domestic violence services to be more accessible to the LGBT community. Services need to be more inclusive in understanding the complexities of the issues in same sex relationships and revise policies and practices that meet the needs of LGBT victims/survivors. Ensuring training for staff and service users around inclusiveness of all LGBT victim/survivors is paramount.

In addition to the widely acknowledged types of abuse faced by all victims, further issues can prevent LGBT people accessing mainstream services or from getting appropriate support.
A lack of understanding, training, or simply perceptions and stereotypes all contribute to deny the existence of domestic violence in same sex relationships. Other factors may affect a person’s decision to seek help, these include:

- The abuse becomes associated with sexual orientation or gender identity
- Confidentiality and isolation within the LGBT communities
- Silence around sexual violence
- Real or perceived homophobia
- Need to come out in order to access services and how they will be treated
- Lack of appropriate or specialist services

Collection of data is also an issue as many statistics on domestic violence, whilst recording that the offender is a partner or ex-partner, do not differentiate as to whether the couple are in a heterosexual or same sex relationship.

There are some specialised projects around the country, which can provide help and support to victims, however these are few in number.

Broken Rainbow is the only national agency across the UK to provide specialist support to the LGBT community around domestic violence.
The Helpline is run by trained LGBT staff and volunteers.
The Broken Rainbow National LGBT DV Helpline is open Mondays & Thursdays 2 - 8pm and Wednesdays 10am - 1pm.

In addition to the helpline, Broken Rainbow works to provide training to raise awareness of the LGBT cultural issues in relation to domestic violence, along with the appropriate services needed by LGBT people. It supports victims, survivors, family and friends of LGBT people experiencing domestic violence.

Please call or pass on this telephone number 08452 60 44 60 to anyone who needs advice or support around LGBT domestic violence.
http://www.broken-rainbow.org.uk

Melvin Hartley
(Chief Executive of Broken Rainbow and adviser to the Board of NSCN)

Back in the office...

2008-07-09T11:03:00.001+01:00

…and much better, thank you.

The closing date for our two vacant positions has now passed so spent the morning going through them. An encouraging response, and I think from the selection I have to chose from we will find the right people. Watch this space for news of our new Helpline Operations co-ordinator and a training consultant. Interviews on the 25th July.

Off Sick...

2008-07-07T09:02:00.002+01:00

…literally…must have been something I ate at Pride!

London Pride 2008

2008-07-05T23:01:00.000+01:00

Well, the sun stayed in the ascendant, only a little rain at the beginning of a hectic but good day in Trafalgar square.
Our team set and manned our stall alongside our good friends of Stonewall Housing, gallop and an organisation with blow up aliens!! They were very popular but I think more because of the aliens rather than their message.

We had a good position almost central along the community stalls facing the main stage. Lots of visitors, though keeping the tourists at bay at the beginning was hard work, they loved our rainbow merchandise but our message is not really aimed at school kids from Europe who cant speak English!

Still once the parade had arrived, the LGBT community was out in force and we had so many visitors that all our stock went. I noted many people took not only our goodies but also our leaflets, and many remarked that well worn phrase of surprise, “I didn’t realise there was domestic violence in gay relationships”.

We are starting to shatter these preconceptions, and events like PRIDE help us do this.

The day ended in Trafalgar Square with the screening of the final episode of Dr Who – the sound of the Dr Who music reverberating around the square was great, but it was the looks on the faces of foreign tourists, who had obviously never seen a Dalek or faced the fear of “Exterminate” that was a sight to behold. Priceless!!

Well the...

2008-07-03T23:55:00.001+01:00

...celebration event has finished.

Glasses, food drink all cleared away and my car loaded down with what’s left..perhaps I will have a drink when I get home as I reflect on a job well done.

A few thoughts on the evening first though. Great to see so many friends there, old and new..our staff, our volunteers, supporters, LGBT community, Domestic violence partners. We showcased the new website – it got a great round of applause, Aimee has done fantastically well getting it ready in time. She deserves a medal…well at least some time off!

Good conversations had too..got some potential new partners in our work that I need to follow up over the next week or so.
I’m tired but happy..a good night, enjoyed by all.