The Janus Project
Domestic Violence Prevention Programme
‘Recognising, challenging, and changing patterns of violent, destructive and abusive
behaviour'
Referrals now being taken
The programmes principal aim is to increase the safety of victims of domestic abuse and their families by challenging abusive and aggressive individuals, and setting standards that increase accountability of perpetrators by promoting effective, meaningful and non-destructive relationships.
The Janus project will be working alongside Sheaf domestic abuse project so support can be given to the partner and their children (if any) to promote a more comprehensive holistic service within the field of domestic abuse and aggression.
The Janus Project is pleased to welcome;
Professor Jane Ireland- University of Central Lancashire
Dr Nicola Graham-Kevan- University of Central Lancashire
as patrons of The Janus Project.
The Janus Project
Domestic Violence Prevention Programme
The Sheaf Domestic Abuse Services: Domestic Violence Prevention Programme & Integrated Support Service Launce Conference
29th January 2010
Mercure St Paul's Hotel
The Sheaf Domestic Abuse Service is pleased to announce the launce of our new Domestic Violence Prevention Programme and Integrated Support Service. The Janus Project, Life Minus Violence Programme Enhanced®. The project is a long-term group work package designed as a dual preventative intervention service for perpetrators of domestic violence and an Integrated Support Service for (ex) partners and children of the men attending the DVPP.
A launch conference for the programme will be held on 29th January 2010 at the Mercure St Paul's Hotel, Sheffield City Centre. This is a free to attend event and talks will be given by the DVPP Co-ordinator, Jozef Sen and Professor Jane L. Ireland; the lead for violence treatment services at Ashworth Hospital, and the first author of Life Minus Violence and Life Minus Violence-Enhanced® therapy, leading with the compilation and coordination of this therapy. Lunch and refreshments provided. Please see attached booking form for details, and to book a place at the event. For more information, please contact Jozef Sen; j.sen@sheafdas.co.uk or tel: 0114 2498881.
..............................
Freedom Programme
New referrals welcome
To provide an opportunity for women to develop ways of thinking and behaving to protect themselves, their children and others from harm. To provide them with the knowledge they need to achieve this.
About The Freedom Programme
What is it?
The FREEDOM programme is a FREE 12-week rolling programme. This means that you can join at any point - the benefits are the same so long as you complete 12 weeks.
Who is it for?
The programme is open to any woman who wishes to learn more about the reality of domestic violence and abuse. The Freedom Programme can also be used to help men who wish to improve their behaviour.
What are its aims?
To help women understand the beliefs held by abusive men and in so doing, recognise which of these beliefs they have shared.
To illustrate the effects of domestic violence on children.
To help women gain self-esteem and the confidence to improve the quality of their lives.
To introduce women to community resources such as Women's Aid, the Police Domestic Violence Unit, The Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre, local Colleges etc.
To download a referral form please click here
..............................
The ‘Staying Safe’ Programme
The government is committed to delivering better life chances, tackling social exclusion and promoting the welfare of all children (DoH 2006). As adults who are directly in contact with children we all have a duty to protect them from harm. As part of SHEAF’s contribution to children services we have compiled the ‘Staying Safe’ programme and hope to deliver it through a variety of settings.
The main objective of the programme is to highlight the personal, cultural and structural issues that may affect the safety of our children. By teaching children to distinguish between happy, sad and angry feelings we aim to identify possible ‘warning’ feelings experienced by children and hope to raise the awareness of situations where they feel their safety is compromised thus promoting their understanding of personal safety. We further aim to develop the children’s knowledge of where they can go for assistance and guidance such as parents/carers, family members, teachers or the police.
This programme has been designed to be delivered through a number of fun activities that can be used either in a facilitated group setting or as a continuing process. The flexibility of the activities within the programme ensures that issues surrounding disability and culture can be sensitively addressed with minimal adjustment.
In accordance with the Every Child Matters Agenda we recognise the importance of giving children a voice in developing an understanding of issues that may affect them therefore we will ask the children to provide feedback on the overall presentation so that necessary changes can be incorporated in the future.
As an agency we treat all information as confidential except when information suggests a child is suffering or likely to be suffering significant harm or there is a risk to other people. In some instances information may be shared in partnership with the school so that needs can be identified and dealt with accordingly.
If you would like the Sheaf Staying Safe Preogramme delivered in your school, please contact our organisation for details.
..............................
..............................
3rd October 2008
Conference:'Unmasking the Aggressor'
*The Sheaf Domestic Abuse Services recently held a one-day conference on October 3rd 2008: 'Unmasking the Aggressor...Working with the complexities of domestic abuse perpetrators.' The conference was developed to explore the complex nature of aggression, intimate partner violence, abusive behaviour and the interventions offered to domestic abuse perpetrators. Keynote speakers for the event included;
Dr Nicola Graham-Kevan -University of Central Lancashire
Professor Jane Ireland- University of Central Lancashire
The Spaniel In The Works Theatre Company
S.T.O.P Project Leeds
If you would like more information please contact the project on 0114 2498881 or alternatively please email: therapysdas@hotmail.co.uk
Thank you to all speakers and delegates for helping to make this valuable event such a success.
Previous conferences held by Sheaf Domestic Abuse Services:
'Suffering in Silence' - Male victims of domestic abuse and Intimate Partner Violence: 2007
Violent and Sexual Offenders: Assessment, Treatment and Management:
By Jane L. Ireland, Carol A. Ireland, and Philip Birch
This book provides an authoritative overview and analysis of issues of assessment, treatment and management of dangerous offenders. It takes particular account of recent policy and legislative changes such as the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the development of initiatives to manage dangerous offenders, such as MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements). The book addresses wider issues of risk and the dangerous offenders in the context of the risk society, questions the relationship between the assessment, treatment and management of offenders, and considers who it is appropriate to involve in this process.The book takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the assessment, treatment and management of violent and sexual offenders, and extends its coverage to include the issue of stalking. Contributors to the book bring to bear a wide range of expertise from both academic and practitioner contexts, and are drawn from the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland.
..............................
In the News
School lessons to tackle domestic violence outlined
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Forced marriage helpline to close
Abused Asian men's lives 'living hell'
Downturn 'to trigger abuse rise'
..............................
Tuesday, 10 February 2009 BBC News
She'd put cigarettes out on me'
By Jim Reed
Men in England and Wales aged between 20 and 25 are more likely to be victims of domestic violence than women in the same age group. Campaigners claim not enough is being done by the police, social services and the government to tackle the problem. Read one victim's story.
Mark from Buckinghamshire, not his real name, was a victim of abuse for nearly a decade. He met his girlfriend in a bar.
"As the place was closing I heard this loud voice demanding another double Jack Daniels. We chatted for a while and I walked her home. Six weeks later she was pregnant with my first child," he told Newsbeat.
Mark says the domestic violence started about three months into the relationship.
I've been stabbed with scissors in my thumb and my wrist. I've had a marble chopping board smashed over my head which needed 12 stitches
Mark describes some of the abuse he received "Quite early on there was an incident where somebody had come to her flat, knocking on the window in the early hours of the morning. It turned out to be her ex-partner.
"She was incredibly abusive to him. I said to her, 'Listen. If you've got some things and issues to sort out with your ex, then that's no problem. I'll leave. You get on and do what you need to do. I'll speak to you tomorrow'.
"As I went to leave her flat, she grabbed a carving knife and was waving it. She wasn't directly threatening me with it but it was in her hand.
"And she said, 'Don't walk out on me. Don't walk away from me'. And alarm bells were ringing.
"Obviously I'd only known her two weeks. And with hindsight being as wonderful as it is I should have just kept walking."
'Stabbed with scissors'
Mark says that early incident in their relationship escalated to much more serious abuse.
"I've been stabbed with scissors in my thumb and my wrist. I've had a marble chopping board smashed over my head which needed 12 stitches," he said.
Male domestic violence 6.4% of men in England and Wales between the ages of 20 and 24 say they were victims of abuse in 20085.4% of women in the same age group reported being victims of domestic violenceTwo in 10 men have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16Three in 10 women have experienced the same abuseOne in six men will be abused by their partner in their lifetime "She would put cigarettes out on me. She'd send the kids into the back garden to play and then she'd corner me in the front room and just attack me.
"She'd be scratching my face, kicking, punching, spitting in my face. That was a regular thing."
Mark says the physical abuse wasn't that hard to deal with, but the psychological manipulation was the worst part because he had no control over it.
"Some nights maybe she'd go out and go missing, turn her phone off, and then come back and say she'd been with another man. All that was going on."
Mark has been asked lots of times why he didn't walk away from the relationship but says it's not that easy to get out of an abusive relationship.
"You know that you've got to leave but you have to go through a whole process to get to the point where you've actually got the strength to walk out that door.
"Also when there are children involved, how difficult is it to walk out of the house with your kids there? It's impossible."
'Scarred for life'
Mark finally left his girlfriend after eight years.
His children are now being looked after by someone else.
He says leaving his kids was the hardest part of the process and why he waited so long to leave his abusive partner.
"I'd packed a little rucksack secretly the night before. I'd phoned a friend the day before and said to him, 'Could he wait at the bottom of the road in his van?'
"She often used to lock the doors and the windows of the house so I couldn't get out. She was worried about me leaving.
"She eventually fell asleep and I grabbed my rucksack and ran down the road with my heart pounding, jumped into my friend's van.
"We drove along the seafront at half two in the morning. I threw my keys and my phone in the sea. That was my way of saying to myself, 'OK. I'm starting a new life'.
"To be honest I wish I'd done it years before. But I stuck at it for the sake of the kids."
"I don't think I'll ever recover. I know I won't recover from what I went through. I've just learnt now how to live with it.
"But I'll carry the scars for the rest of my life."
Men's Abuse Being Ignored
Violent Partners
Children 'Injured in adult rows'
