A safe, just and equal world for women

Advance Big Give campaign is live

October 9, 2024
We are excited to be taking part in The Big Give’s Women and Girls match funding campaign which means every donation you make from today to the 17th October will be doubled.

Falling in love for the first time should be a special time in a person’s life. For many this feels amazing, but for some it isn’t … sometimes its abuse. For many girls, regardless of their differences, spotting the signs of abuse can be near impossible.

Girls and young women under 25 are disproportionately affected by domestic abuse, including coercive control and sexual violence.

At Advance we support young women and girls who are, or are at risk of experiencing domestic abuse.

Donate to us between 10-17 October and every donation will be doubled.

This means more girls and young women can get the vital support they need earlier, preventing further harm and trauma.

Donate Today
  • You can also get involved by grabbing pen and paper, writing to your younger self  about your first love, take a pic and share, tagging us in with #MyFirstLove
  • You can like, share and comment on our posts
  • You can find out other ways to support us by getting in touch with our Head of Fundraising, Annie Gregory Annie.g@advancecharity.org.uk, 07904892064
Campaign Aims
  • Advance aims to ensure young women & girls understand domestic abuse and related Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) issues and are empowered to make informed choices and access support at the earliest point. This fund will help achieve this through the following three strands of work:
  • Direct Support – Enabling continued delivery of direct support and advocacy for young women & girls directly affected by domestic abuse (aged 13-24). Via one-to-one support and group sessions, helping them to feel confident and empowered to live fulfilling lives free from abuse.
  • Prevention – Supporting the development and delivery of prevention and early intervention strategies and programmes (including work in schools/colleges and creation of YW&G toolkits), to improve awareness of DA and VAWG, healthy relationships, well-being and self-esteem, and routes to support.
  • Changing Culture and Systems – Helping us to continue developing our innovative models and services, sharing best practice through partnerships, programmes, and training, and working with policymakers to improve systemic and structural responses to young women & girls
Notes 

Advance research, ‘A space to learn about relationships’ from 2020 shows that: 

  • The average age of the first sexual experience of the women we surveyed was 12 years old; the average age of their partners was 16 years old. 73% wish they’d known more about consent.
  • 39% learnt about sex and relationships from their friends and peers; 48% learnt from friends who were older than them.
  • Over 50% responded that they would have liked to have known more about feelings, emotions and the difference between love and sex.
  • 91% believed that their previous relationships had an impact on their mental health.
“You’re the first person who has actually listened to me and that actually had my back in that (professionals) meeting. You put into words what I was feeling and gave what I went through a name (coercive control) and helped me to be able communicate that to social services”

– young woman supported by Advance

About Advance
  • Advance’s vision is a world in which women and children lead safe, equal, violence-free lives so that they can flourish and actively contribute to society. The charity works with women who experience domestic abuse to be safe and take control of their lives, and women who have committed crime or are at risk of offending to break the cycle.
  • As well as providing direct support, Advance works with statutory services, government agencies and other women’s charities to ensure a holistic approach to the issues these women face.
  • Women must be referred to Advance, via statutory services or the charity’s self-referral scheme. For more information about who Advance is able to support, please visit Get help 
  •  For facts and statistics about domestic abuse and women in the criminal justice system, as well as Advance’s work, please visit Our impact
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