Domestic violence

Updated: 03 May 2011

Domestic violence There is two schemes for Asian women fleeing domestic violence. One is in Tower Hamlets and the other is in Hackney.

Tower Hamlets Asian Women's Aid (THAWA) provides 19 units; 13 units for women and children and 6 units for single women. It also provides a support and advice floating support service to 20 units for women living in the community.

Hackney Asian Women's Aid (HAWA) provides 16 units of supported housing service for women and children fleeing domestic violence.

What to do if you are experiencing domestic violence

Domestic violence is a crime. Domestic violence is when someone behaves in an abusive or violent way towards another person, usually within the home.

In most cases, the victim is a woman. One in four women experience domestic violence in their lifetime. It is not your fault if you experience domestic violence.

What we will do

If you contact us about a case of domestic violence, we will do the following.

Offer you a private interview with an officer of the same sex as you, if you ask for this. You do not need an appointment to come to our offices, although you may have to wait until an interview room is available so that you can speak to someone in private.
Meet you within 24 hours or as soon as you are able to meet us, at our offices or your home, to give you advice on:
- housing options;
- security measures;
- involving the police and
- what further help and support is available.

We will:

give you advice and direct you to specialist organisations who can help;
give you advice on emergency accommodation;
give you tenancy advice and
ask the local authority to award you extra priority on the Common Housing Register.

Information, equality and confidentiality

We will:

keep you involved and up to date with any action we take;
keep all cases of domestic violence confidential;
treat you fairly, in line with our equality and diversity policy and
respect your decisions.

We are committed to treating all reported cases of domestic violence quickly and sensitively.

More information

For more information on domestic violence and what to do if you are experiencing domestic violence, please visit Women's Aid, or speak to your housing officer. We can provide help and advice about your rehousing options so you can feel safe.

Please download our leaflet for more information.

Domestic violence (347 KB)