Over the last five years, Advance has developed its specialist Minerva community support for young women and girls aged 15-24 in contact with the criminal justice system.

Christina*, 50, reported her abuser and took him to court four years ago. She and her two children are safe now, but it was a long journey to get where they are today. She says: “One of the hardest parts was trying to explain, to police, an isolated incident that…

Marie says that her favourite part of the job is being able to work on developing stronger relationships between mental health and domestic abuse services,

At Advance, however, we know all too well about the other pandemic affecting women and their children, which did not result in lockdown restrictions, but was exacerbated by them. Some have called domestic abuse the invisible pandemic, but it is by no means invisible: far too many women and children…

At 9:00am, since working remotely as a result of Covid restrictions, I start my day with a ‘Good Morning Check-In’ with my colleagues, manager at Advance and the Housing team in the borough I work in.

I’ve always turned to my faith to help me through hard times (rosary beads above my bed) but it was at this point I knew I had to reach out for help from Minerva. The fear of the unknown creeped in and I found myself really struggling being thrown out…

I cannot pinpoint a date when the abuse began. It started with him putting me down and then laughing when I would become anxious, calling me ‘worthless’. I could not see what he was doing was not alright, instead I felt there was something wrong with me. Before I fell…

Sam became pregnant at 17. Her son is now six years old and is looked after by her mother under a special guardianship order. Sam has regular contact with him and they have a close relationship. Sam is grateful to her mother but also resents the fact that she was…

Sonia disclosed to the IDVA that she was experiencing emotional abuse from her partner, who did not try to stop her from harming herself and was telling her that she would not be able to do it and that she would be too scared. It was also said that Sonia…