Violence against women – inside and outside the home
There is growing awareness of the crimes of violence, inside and outside the home. Soroptimists campaign to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.
We know that violence in the home harms women in particular and causes great distress to families. Woking Soroptimists raise awareness about this locally. We also support Your Sanctuary, the charity in Surrey that helps all those who have suffered domestic abuse.
The SI Woking special group manages our action in this area. In particular, we will raise awareness about violence against women by making the 25th day of each month an Orange the World day in addition to the United Nations 16 Days of Activism. Look out for the orange ribbons we will be wearing!
The Lobbying Group raises awareness about specific aspects of this issue, such as the recent proposal to make ‘downblousing’ a criminal offence.
Latest news
February 2023
A member of parliament has suggested that sexual harassment in a public place should be an offence. The UK Government supports this idea. A new proposed law will now be discussed in parliament. When the new law is approved and applied, there will be harsher punishment for people who commit the offence
Your Sanctuary
Why do Woking Soroptimists help Your Sanctuary?
Formerly the Women’s Aid Refuge, yourSanctuary has been in Surrey for many years, helping to protect people, especially women and children, from domestic violence. Your Sanctuary offers practical help, including safe places to say and counselling. An especially important part of their work is the Children’s Service, with a trained children’s mental health worker and a trained outreach officer.
We raise funds and awareness for Your Sanctuary.
Our October 2022 fundraiser led to a donation of over £750 to Your Sanctuary.
We helped Your Sanctuary during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. In April 2020, we gave £600 to Your Sanctuary. We knew that the restrictions on everyday life due to the lockdown could lead to more domestic violence . So we wanted to help Your Sanctuary to meet the increased call on its services. We also knew there would be less money to spend on essential services because grants have been cut and no fundraising was possible during lockdown.
We also give practical help
The victims of domestic violence need many kinds of help. They not only need psychological, medical and legal assistance, they often need very practical help. They may turn to Your Sanctuary in an emergency and arrive with very few personal belongings.
We collect toiletries that are given out as emergency supplies.
