Outside the Box

Domestic abuse can mean physical, psychological, financial, verbal or emotional abuse which happens within a domestic relationship.

The services that people would like to see are ones which are:

• Sensitive to the circumstances of people who are in a same-sex relationship
• Easy to access on a confidential basis
• Meet the needs of everyone who is going through domestic abuse at the moment and work for people who have left an abusive relationship.
  

Other people may need support because they are worried about a friend or relative who is suffering from Domestic Abuse.  We want to make sure that their needs and views are listened to as well.

We want to hear from more people who have an interest in this topic.  This will let the people who want to develop more services know that their plans will benefit as many people as possible.

We are working alongside other groups who want to see better support for people who experience same-sex domestic abuse, and who are working to raise awareness about the issue. 

What we are doing

The first stage is gathering information about what sorts of services people would find helpful. 

There is a short survey, which you can access through the Outside the Box website.  It is entirely confidential and anonymous. You do not have to give your contact details if you do not want to.  The survey will run for over summer 2009 – until the end of September.

In the meantime, we will also gather useful sources of inflation and advice, which people tell us have helped them.


What happens next?

We will write a report on what people have told us and publish it in the autumn.  The report will describe the ideas people have about how expositing service could give better support and their ideas for new services.

We will hold an event to feedback what we have found out, and look at how people can be part of taking the ideas forward.  There will be more information about the event on our website nearer the time.

We can then work with people across Scotland the help you influence or develop the types of services that will support people who are affected by same-sex domestic abuse.


How you can help us

We need help form people who are interested in support for people who experience domestic abuse within a same-sex relationship.

• You can complete the survey and then keep feeding in your ideas about what will make things better.
• You can tell other people about what we are doing.
• Once the report is available, you can share it with other people in your area, to help raise awareness about the importance of this issue.
• You can send us information about useful sources on support or advice, which other people would like to know about.
• Once the project is at the stage of beginning to develop new services, you may want to get involved in planning something for your area.