Light and Hope: our roundtable about supporting women in the workplace

Our CEO, Natalie Collins, reflects on last week’s roundtable that we organised to consider how best to support women in the workplace who have or are being subjected to abuse by a partner.

Victoria opening the roundtable. Look at that room!

Light streamed through the roof as we gathered in beautiful London Scottish House on the last day in April.  A building made before London square footage was too valuable to allow for any efficiency could be allowed.  An expansive space, giving off fancy greenhouse vibes, with two storeys of balconies (standing room only), and austere paintings - Queen Elizabeth the only visible woman on the walls.

Yet, in the room itself, you couldn’t move for brilliant women; over fifty strategic leaders across the city (especially Our Safer City who we have recently partnered with), policing, faith groups, recruitment, women’s organisations and elsewhere. We had gathered these together to have a conversation about meaningfully supporting women in the workplace who have been subjected to abuse by a partner.

Whilst support from local domestic abuse services is crucial, for many women in the workforce it can be difficult to access support, if that support is only available during the working day. For those in policing, social care, health and other statutory services, it can be particularly challenging getting help. What does peer support look like as a social worker or police officer?  Groups run by local services can be quite hostile to women from services which have often failed them.

Our Partnership Development Lead, Victoria Mason, opened the day.  It is her tireless (unpaid!) work that has brought Own My Life to the attention of many in the room.  She expressed gratitude to those in the room and encouraged us all that we can make women’s lives better. 

This led us into group discussions about the big (and small) steps we can take to make women’s lives better, via the workplace.  Each group reflected on the workplace as a “snakes and ladders” board; with “ladders” which can fast-track women to safety and healing, “snakes” which represent the challenges to building safe workplaces for women, and the incremental steps on the board offering opportunities to discuss the small ways each of us can make a difference.

Viran and Polly

The room was alive with ideas and connections as we welcomed Viran Wiltshire and Polly Gallacher to speak.  Viran (and her colleague Sam) have pioneered HEAL DA, a Metropolitan Police-wide support for officers, staff and volunteers who have been subjected to abuse by a partner.  Polly spoke as a senior officer about the need for the support of senior leaders to enable workplaces to make the changes needed.  Viran shared stories of the difference Own My Life has made to women in the Met Police, including transformed lives, peer support, career progression, better policing responses to domestic abuse, and women having less sick days! You can learn more about this HERE on Episode 7 of our recent podcast.

After a much needed networking coffee break, I spoke to the gathering about the Own My Life method of Validate, Regulate, Celebrate, explaining how this can be applied in workplaces and more generally in each of our lives (both personally and professionally). 

Following me was Emma Chandler, who embodied this method in her presentation; speaking about the difference Own My Life had made to her as she faced the consequences of her ex-husband’s abuse and financial control (read more about Emma’s story HERE).  She is working with us to make Own My Life available to corporates through Unlocq Leadership.

We then had the joy of learning from Joanna Critch, Hannah Gardner, Doris Nyarko, and Claire Saltiel about their experiences with Own My Life.

Joanna’s organsiation, Feathers Futures in Great Yarmouth, have been delivering Own My Life for years. They recently began offering Professionals’ Days to ensure local services understood how Own My Life works and how women can access it.  Professionals realised through the Own My Life content on these days that they needed the course for themselves and so Feathers now offer a closed evening Own My Life course for professionals who would be unable to attend a group alongside women they may work with as a social worker, police officer or health worker.

As a police officer, Doris facilitates Own My Life for the Met Police personnel and as an officer herself, she spoke of the difference Own My Life can make to women.  She also spoke of her vision to see Own My Life available in Ghana, and has plans to build opportunities to facilitate there.

Hannah facilitates Own My Life for Restored and spoke of the difference the course makes to Christian women who are trying to make sense of their lives.  She is also working with us as co-trainer on Inspired,our upcoming girls’ course pilot.  The course is for girls and young women aged 14 – 25; and has potential for younger women joining the workforce, including those on graduate schemes.

Previously, Claire had facilitated Own My Life as an IDVA with Refuge, but after moving to a community safety role with the City of London Corporation, Claire saw the ways Own My Life could be offered in the city’s, bringing the same transformational potential that is realised in domestic abuse services to women in their workplace.  She spoke of the difference Own My Life training had made to her as a practitioner.

After opportunities to discuss and connect further, we watched a short clip from Lover Liar Predator and I explained how the motivation to see women enabled to own their lives came from the experiences of myself and so many other women who have had to forge our own path to healing and wholeness.

Victoria, Natalie and Emma

We finished the event with a delicious lunch and good conversations, bathed in afternoon sunlight.  There is still so much work to be enable women in the workplace to own their lives, and if you’d like to be part of the movement working to do that contact:

emma@unlocq.co.uk for corporate and business opportunities,

victoria.mason@ownmylifecourse.org for statutory sector workforces.

With thanks to all who joined us for the event, most especially to Victoria for enabling the event to happen and Jo Critch for doing All Of The Things!