Domestic abuse help for women in forces community

The Free from Fear programme is providing funding for victims of domestic abuse connected to the armed forces

Women serving in the armed forces and from military families can now access support for trauma and domestic abuse from a Devon charity.

Plymouth based-charity Trevi, which has more than 1,000 women seeking help each year, said it wanted to extend its "wrap-around therapeutic support" to women in Plymouth's armed forces community.

The new support has been made possible thanks to £148,000 from the Armed Forces Covenant's Free From Fear fund.

Amanda Greenwood, Trevi chief executive, said: "We can now expand our service and provide bespoke support for military communities."

National research showed women serving, and those from military families, often faced barriers to disclosing domestic abuse – especially around confidentiality and career impact, Ms Greenwood said.

"Trevi's new service offers an independent, confidential route to support for them," she said.

She said the help for the armed forces was a natural extension to its work around violence against women and girls.

"What this funding means is we can now particularly work with a specific service and provide tailored support for women who are connected to the armed forces.

"We'll be delivering this help through our Sunflower Women's Centre in Plymouth, which is a safe, women-only space," she added.

Ms Greenwood hopes the work with the forces will be on-going

Carol Stone, director of grants at Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, said the Free from Fear programme aimed to build and strengthen support for those who experienced domestic abuse within the armed forces.

"It focuses on trauma-informed pathways and provides specialist support which considers the unique challenges victim-survivors in the military community can face," said Ms Stone.

"Trevi's project is helping women navigate the right paths to support and empowering them to move forward; and the trust is eager to see the positive difference this will make in the coming months and years."