AVA’s Stella Project has pioneered work around multiple disadvantage, working to address the overlapping issues of gender based violence and abuse, drug and alcohol use and mental health.
The term multiple disadvantage refers to those people who face multiple and intersecting inequalities including gender based violence and abuse, substance use, mental ill health, homelessness, being involved in the criminal justice system and the removal of children.
We work with with policy makers and service providers to ensure that women and girls affected by violence and abuse and multiple disadvantage get the help and support that is right for them.
We aim to
- Research and develop new interventions and toolkits to inform all aspects of service delivery.
- Work in partnership with service providers in mental health and substance use services to improve their ability to support survivors of violence and abuse.
- Influence policy makers to ensure that public policy solutions around multiple disadvantage reflect the experience of women and girls who have survived violence and abuse.
- Develop new work that recognises combinations of disadvantage that go beyond mental health and problematic substance use.
We do this via
- Training for individuals, training for organisations and elearning.
- Research and survivor consultation, policy briefings, consultation responses and resources on working with people experiencing mental health problems and/or problematic substance use who are affected by gender based violence and abuse.
- Consultancy work to assist you in working with people affected by multiple disadvantage and gender based violence and abuse, including improving cross sector working and looking at intersecting needs.
- Policy work to embed the voices and views of people affected by multiple disadvantage and gender based violence and abuse at a national and local level.
- Working with mental health trusts to improve mental health responses to domestic and sexual violence.
- Improving access to housing for women affected by multiple disadvantage who are experiencing gender-based violence.
