Domestic Abuse

Facts and figures

(source: Women's Aid) 

• Each year 1.4 million women suffer some form of domestic abuse in England and Wales
• Each year 700,000 men suffer some form of domestic abuse in England and Wales
• 1 in 4 women experience domestic abuse during their lifetime
• 2 women are killed each week in England and Wales by a current or former partner
• 1 in 4 people identifying as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender experience domestic abuse during their lifetime

Experiencing domestic abuse?

We offer specialist support — including a confidential Referral and Advice Line, emergency accommodation, community-based support and referrals to other agencies.

Emergency

In an emergency please call the police (999).

Contact us - Referral and Advice Line

Call us on 020 8317 8273. Lines are open Monday to Friday 9.30am - 8pm.

Our Referral and Advice line provides practical advice, emotional support and signposting to support survivors and professionals across London. The team will provide a listening ear if you want to talk about your experiences and support you to work through your options. Our aim is to work with you to keep you safe and give you information so you can make informed choices. We will never tell you what to do.

If you are experiencing domestic abuse, we encourage residents to report it to their Neighbourhood Officer. If you think you or someone you know may be experiencing abuse you can also visit this area of our website for more information. 

National Domestic Violence helpline

A national helpline which is available every day of the year.

Freephone: 0808 2000 247

Anti-social behaviour

Anti-social Behaviour is “Conduct that has caused or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person; conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises or conduct capable of causing housing related nuisance or annoyance to any person ”.

We are committed to taking positive action, in partnership with other agencies, to deal with all forms of anti-social behaviour (ASB). We recognise that if ASB is allowed to persist, it can significantly affect the quality of life for those affected and that dissatisfaction with the living environment could have a negative impact on the way we’re able to manage our homes.

Some examples of behaviour that we treat as ASB include, but are not limited to:

• Intimidation and harassment,
• Actual violence against people or property,
• Using or threatening to use housing accommodation to sell drugs, or for other unlawful purposes,
• Hate behaviour that targets members of identified groups because of their perceived differences. 
• The fouling of communal/public areas, graffiti, fly tipping and nuisance vehicles. 

The following are some examples of reports that we would not consider to be ASB:

• Babies crying,
• Smells from cooking,
• Sounds of normal day to day living, like opening and closing of doors, footsteps, lights being switched on or off, toilet flushes etc,
• One off parties such as BBQs, birthday parties provided they do not cause an unacceptable disturbance,
• Putting rubbish out on the wrong day,
• Clashes of lifestyle, including cultural differences,
• Parking in the wrong bay,
• Family disputes,
• Children playing.

We will not investigate normal behaviour occurring at unusual times because of different working patterns.

Reporting Anti-social behaviour

If you call us to report ASB we will ask you a series of questions to help us understand exactly what has happened, how often it is happening, its severity, and what support you have available to you. This will help us to identify if the incident(s) is ASB, and if so, we can tell you what you can expect from us as the next step.

If you suspect that there is a criminal activity, we advise you to contact the police in the first instance.

Please also keep a log, and call our Housing Management team to report it. We will undertake an assessment to determine the extent of the report, which will help us to consider the best course of action.

Your Neighbourhood Officer will call you back to discuss these issues further and agree on next steps.

Housing for Women’s Anti-social Behaviour Policy

You can download Housing for Women’s full Anti-social Behaviour Policy here.