Violence against women – inside and outside the home

There is growing awareness of the crimes of violence, inside and outside the home. Soroptimists campaign to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.

We know that violence in the home harms women in particular and causes great distress to families. Woking Soroptimists raise awareness about this locally. We also support Your Sanctuary, the charity in Surrey that helps all those who have suffered domestic abuse. The SI Woking special group manages our action in this area.

Latest news

January 2024

SI Woking designed a Contact Card to remind women especially to have emergency numbers to hand at all times. More here

September 2023

The UK Government support supported a change to the law on public sexual harassment. The House of Commons approved the proposed text. After debate in the House of Lords, the new law was approved. Its applications means harsher punishment for people who commit the offence

In 2022, there was a proposal to make ‘downblousing’ a criminal offence.

Your Sanctuary

Why do Woking Soroptimists help Your Sanctuary?

Formerly the Women’s Aid Refuge, yourSanctuary has been in Surrey for many years, helping to protect people, especially women and children, from domestic violence. Your Sanctuary offers practical help, including safe places to say and counselling. An especially important part of their work is the Children’s Service, with a trained children’s mental health worker and a trained outreach officer.

We raise funds and awareness for Your Sanctuary.

Our October 2022 fundraiser led to a donation of over £750 to Your Sanctuary.

We helped Your Sanctuary during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. In April 2020, we gave £600 to Your Sanctuary. We knew that the restrictions on everyday life due to the lockdown could lead to more domestic violence . So we wanted to help Your Sanctuary to meet the increased call on its services. We also knew there would be less money to spend on essential services because grants have been cut and no fundraising was possible during lockdown.

We also give practical help

The victims of domestic violence need many kinds of help. They not only need psychological, medical and legal assistance, they often need very practical help. They may turn to Your Sanctuary in an emergency and arrive with very few personal belongings. They will have few resources for anything but essential needs.

So we have regularly donated toiletries to be given out as emergency supplies.