Covid-19

Throughout the Covid pandemic, our vital service has remained open and we continue to support women, children and young people throughout this challenging time.

During the COVID-19 crisis, staying safe in your home may feel even harder.

At Stirling Women's Aid we want you to be able to keep safe and access support in a way that suits you.

Here are some of the ways you can access help and support:

• Phone 999 - the police are working as usual and want to keep you safe. If you or your children are at risk of harm call 999. If you cannot talk, wait until the advisor has asked you what service you require, you will hear a recorded message then dial 55, and the operator will divert your call to your local police station.
• Contact Stirling Women's Aid. We are open from 10am until 3pm every weekday and are waiting to answer calls and support women. You can phone us, text us, email us or even send us a message on facebook. We will NEVER call you unless you have told us that it's safe.
  
  Phone: 01786 469518
  Email: info@stirlingwomensaid.co.uk
  Text: 07534 512 820 / 07834 179 154
• Call the national helpline. If you need help outside of our opening hours or you ability to use the phone is restricted, you can call Scotland's 24 hour domestic abuse and forced marriage helpline at any time on 0800 027 1234.

Find us on Facebook under Stirling and District Women's Aid

I live with my abuser and I want to keep myself safe:

The following are suggestions to increase your safety. If you feel at risk of harm dial 999

• If possible keep your phone on you at all times.
• If you are able to speak to family or friends consider telling someone what is going on.
• If someone outside your household knows your situation, create a 'code word' with them so you can let them know if you need help.
• Think about whether there might be someone else you, and your children if you have any, could go and stay with, consider this option.
• If you can, try and store some money or your bank card somewhere safe so you have access to funds if you need to leave quickly. If it safe to do so pack a small bag with a change of clothes and keep it somewhere safe and hidden.
• Think about what opportunities you might have to get help. Does the perpetrator go out to work? Do any shopping or go for a walk? Can you use that time to leave or contact a support service?
• If you are or your children are at risk, dial 999

I don't live with my abuser but I'm worried he will use child contact to try and control or harm me:

The COVID-19 restrictions mean that many services that victim's rely on, such a child contact centres, are closed. This means that it can be harder to hand over children safely. If you feel at risk think about the following:

• Can you reduce the number of contacts and therefore the number of handovers? You may have a court order, however, as long as you can justify your decisions you can decide to reduce the number of contacts and perhaps make them longer (if you feel this is safe) or agree on replacing them with video chats. This is in line with government guidance that seeks to reduce non-essential travel.
• Can you do the handover in a public space, preferably with CCTV - a supermarket car park for instance?
• Can you ask a family member or friend to also drive to the car park at the same time (they could tie this in with a shopping trip.)
• If you do not feel that handover can be made safe for you, you are the resident parent and you are able to fully justify your decision, then it may be necessary to stop contact if you feel there are no other options. We would recommend seeking support from a domestic abuse service if you decide to do this.