By Diana Wright, October 2025.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. An estimated 1.4 million women and 751,000 men experienced domestic abuse last year in England and Wales, and only a quarter of these crimes were reported. In the most recent figures, the victim was female in three quarters of domestic abuse related crimes, and more than two thirds of cases were domestic homicide. While it can, and does, affect everyone, women are more likely to experience repeat victimisation, be physically injured or killed, and experience sexual abuse.

At Amber Family, if it is on the referral that an individual has experienced domestic abuse in the past or in their current relationship, they will be offered to attend the Gateway Program. Predominantly, it is women that complete the program; we do offer this to males though if they have experienced abuse or control in their current or past relationships. Claire and I are trained to deliver the program and we can do this on a one-to-one basis or a group session.

The Gateway program is an empowerment-based approach informed by specialist domestic abuse professionals and those that have experienced abusive relationships. Each session is facilitated rather than ‘delivered’ to sensitively raise awareness of the dynamics and impact of abusive relationships, and provide future safety planning and support choices. Fictional characters are used to safeguard individual privacy and support reflection on the dynamics and impact of controlling and abusive relationships.

I have been doing the program now for two and a half years and have seen many parents during this time, both female and male. I enjoy doing the Gateway program as I know how much this can help an individual. I have also experienced domestic abuse myself many years ago, which I feel helps me to have a good understanding of those experiencing abuse. Whilst some stories may be similar to others, they are never the same and I always do the program as if I have never done it before to ensure every individual has their own bespoke program. I have also found from week to week whilst completing the program, there are experiences and stories that I may not have heard but find this enhances my experience of delivering the program for the next time. Every day is a learning day!

We don’t often hear from past parents, however they are given all the tools when the program has ended to support them moving forward. This consists of a legal pack and a telephone number for support. We had an individual leave us last year who took out a non-molestation order on her past partner after completing the program. It is positive to know that you are empowering those to gain a better future for themselves once they have left placement with us, and that they do the best for themselves and for their children, for a better future.