For immediate help at any time, please call us on 03300 564456 (24 hour)
Cyfannol Women’s Aid specialises in supporting women and girls who have experienced any form of violence against women, domestic abuse, and/or sexual violence. Our vision is that “Everyone is empowered to flourish in a life free from domestic abuse and sexual violence”.
Our mission is to deliver across Gwent, a range of person-led and trauma-informed services to any person, particularly women or children, who have experienced any form of Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse, and Sexual Violence, regardless of their needs and the multiple disadvantages they face.
From our establishment in the county borough of Torfaen in the 1970s, Cyfannol has grown year on year, both in terms of size and scope.
We are now the largest affiliated Women’s Aid organisation in Wales, covering Blaenau Gwent, Monmouthshire, Newport, Torfaen and the wider Gwent area.
Our name change in 2015 to Cyfannol Women’s Aid (meaning ‘Holistic’ in Welsh) not only evidences our approach to service delivery, but also demonstrates how proud we are to deliver services in Wales.
Empowerment
Integrity
Self-awareness
Collaboration
Resilience
Dedication
We are a lived-experience informed charity; our services are co-produced with those accessing them. We take responsibility for removing the barriers to our services, constantly striving to be as accessible as possible.
We achieve our mission by delivering a range of services, including:
Confidential drop-in services for people in crisis or in need of initial support.
View serviceOur refuges are safe spaces, offering welcoming accommodation for anyone escaping any form of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence.
View serviceOngoing community-based, housing-related support for people who are experiencing, or have recently experienced, domestic abuse.
View serviceA range of 1:1 and group-based support options for children who have experienced domestic abuse or sexual violence.
View serviceNo. You can get in touch with us on 03300 564456 to self-refer into our services. There is no requirement to be engaged with any other agencies or forms of support, or to have reported the abuse you’ve experienced.
While domestic abuse is mainly perpetrated by men against women, we acknowledge that men can also be survivors of abuse from men and women.
Men’s experience of domestic violence and abuse will be affected by stereotypes and assumptions about masculinity. This can affect how men perceive their own victimisation, place pressures and expectations on them or unfairly influence how services respond. Therefore we ensure that there are spaces in which men can feel safe, understood and are not judged.
Our Sexual Violence Services are available to people of all genders.
Although we specialise in supporting women and children, some of our domestic abuse support services are also open to all people, where services are commissioned on this basis. This includes our Blaenau Gwent support services and the Assertive Outreach project, which provides crisis support alongside the police. All support is offered subject to risk and needs assessments, and on the basis that individuals feel our services are right for them.
For services open to women, this includes cis-women, transwomen and non-binary people assigned female at birth. All support is offered subject to risk and needs assessments, and on the basis that individuals feel our services are right for them.
Cyfannol Women’s Aid is founded on feminist principles. For us, this means striving for equality and embedding fairness, equity and inclusion through our empowering, person-centred approach. Within this, we recognise the gendered nature of Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) and will actively promote VAWDA services for women and recognise the ungendered prevalence and nature of SV.
We know that we can only hope to achieve our vision – that everyone is empowered to flourish in a life free from domestic abuse and sexual violence – by keeping the voices of people impacted by VAWDASV front and centre and ensuring equality and diversity are at the heart of everything we do.
We are committed to the following principles:
We have women’s only spaces, so that our services users feel secure in their environment; whether they are coming in for a drop-in appointment or staying in our refuge.
Women-only spaces in both refuge and the community allow women accessing them to feel safe, understood and that they would not be judged.
Violence and abuse can affect anyone, including men and boys. However evidence shows that over 90% of violence and abuse is experienced by women and girls at the hands of men (ONS, 2020).
It is important that we focus on this disproportionality so that we can challenge and change attitudes that allow male violence against women and girls to continue.
When we focus on male violence against women and girls, we are able to recognise how power and control operates in intimate or family relationships, and how this is harmful for both men, women, girls and boys.