This is typically the first port of call in supporting women who are experiencing domestic abuse, at any stage in their journey. We offer a crisis response to address immediate concerns, which involves completing a risk assessment and personalised safety plan. We will then discuss further support needs, establishing a safe, ongoing communication plan to allow us to explore housing, financial and legal options, and connect you to further EWA services, or any other relevant agencies to meet your needs. 

We will work with you from a person-centred approach to identify you (and your children’s) needs, tailoring our repsonse to your unique situation. Our services are grounded in a trauma-informed, strengths-based framework that prioritises the physical, psychological, and emotional safety of survivors. We aim to give you control over your choices, including whether or not to engage with our services and whether to consent to sharing information with other agencies. 

We offer 29 refuge spaces, 27 of which can accommodate women with children, across Edinburgh. Our refuge spaces provide a secure environment where you can begin to rebuild their lives. 

The accommodation varies from shared houses, of 2-3 women and children, each with individual bedrooms with a locked door, to individual flats located within a building where staff are on-site 24/7. All locations of our accommodation are confidential as we aim to help you keep as safe as possible.

Once you are in a refuge, staff will be there to help you settle into the accommodation and start planning for the future. Our refuges offer more than just shelter; they provide opportunities for you, and your children, to engage in empowering activities that support your recovery. Your decisions will always be respected, and the aim is always to help you find ways to be safe, and feel safe.

If you feel that you need to leave the Edinburgh area for your own safety, we can also help you to access refuge accommodation in other areas of the UK.

We can also offer for ongoing support within your community through our locality-based staff and specialist Polish language service. You may choose to use these long-term, one-on-one services if your needs extend beyond crisis support.

Our key workers will help develop an agreed support plan to help address any issues related to domestic abuse that you may have and offer information and emotional support in rebuilding your life free from abuse. This could include helping to improve your safety through ongoing safety planning, referring you to other services, advocating on your behalf or accompanying you to appointments, supporting your confidence and self-esteem, and assisting you in building new positive social networks.

Additionally, our complex needs services are an option if you are dealing with the additional health consequences of domestic abuse, such as mental ill health or substance misuse. Our specialist staff work closely with other external services to provide comprehensive, wraparound support. This collaborative approach aims to support you to address your most pressing issues, stabilise your situation, and engage with domestic abuse support. 

The EWA Legal Services Project is a partnership that EWA, Scottish Women’s Aid (SWA) and Baker Gostelow Family Law designed to provide accessible legal advice, assistance and out-of-court interventions to women and children affected by domestic abuse.

The legal system can be difficult to navigate, especially for women who have experienced domestic abuse and so this service aims to address a critical gap in existing support structures. Our Project solicitors have a strong understanding of the dynamics of abuse and work with our staff, training workers to better understand the legal aspects of domestic abuse and legal issues that women using our services are likely to encounter.

Key Features of the Project: 

• Immediate Access to Legal Services: Unlike traditional legal advice services that require clients to navigate administrative hurdles, such as setting up appointments or assessing legal aid eligibility, this initiative offers immediate and free access to legal services.
• Specialist Legal Support: The Project employs family law solicitors experienced and trained in domestic abuse and providing trauma informed legal services, which helps to reduce the risk of further trauma by providing expert legal support tailored to the unique needs of abuse survivors.
• Range of Legal Services: focused on a range of child and family law matters which are often more complex where there is coercive control, financial and post-separation abuse, including: separation, divorce, parental responsibilities & rights, child residence and contact arrangements, and the fair division of matrimonial or relationship property and finances.

Our Employability Programme, Works 4 Women (W4W) is a partnership between Edinburgh Women’s Aid and Shakti Women’s Aid that provides employability support for women who have experienced domestic abuse.

We know that survivors often face different kinds of barriers from other job seekers, such as homelessness, involvement in courts, and diminished self-esteem. We offer both group sessions, covering a range of employability skills and topics, and one-to-one support with a specialist employability worker, to provide information and advice in the search for employment, education or training; building your CV; completing applications and preparing for interviews.

W4W aims to be more than just an employability service; it’s a person-centred initiative that supports you to enhance your health and wellbeing and build confidence on the journey to financial independence.

Our Peer Support Service offers safe spaces for women recover from the trauma of domestic abuse. Through group discussion and a variety of activities, we support one another while we grow, discover and understand ourselves again. 

These closed groups run for up to 10 weeks, with group discussions that focus on topics such as: increasing self-esteem, identifying your needs and boundaries and moving on positively. Our activities include cultural trips, creative groups and mindfulness sessions. At the end of these sessions, as well as signposting to further community groups, there is an option to continue these group sessions independently and an opportunity to become a peer supporter within EWA.

Our Mothers Aiding Recovery from Domestic Abuse (MARDA) Service offers a safe space for mothers of children who have been exposed to domestic abuse, to come together and be guided through a 10 week, carefully pre-planned programme covering topics which aid your recovery from domestic abuse. 

MARDA aims to improve your understanding of domestic abuse and help you to break the silence, increase confidence in your approach to supporting your children to recover from exposure to domestic abuse, and empower you to request the help needed to move ahead in life.

Our closed groups of 4-8 women provide a support network where mothers can work together to increase emotional literacy, personal capacity and resilience. We also help you to develop appropriate tools to manage the challenges that follow exposure to domestic abuse in children and empower you to make safer choices, with the ultimate aim to improve your relationship with your children.