Training on Code of Practice
Women's Aid provides free training to projects seeking to implement the Code of Practice and to broaden their staff and voluntary management's knowledge on domestic violence. We currently offer 2 levels of Code of Practice Training
Level 1 Code of Practice Training on Domestic Violence
Level 1 training is a 2 day training on domestic violence. Having completed the training participants will:
- Know the Code of Practice document and be able to implement it in the community
- Understand the dynamics of domestic violence and the difficulties facing a woman attempting to leave a violent relationship
- Know how to respond to a woman disclosing abuse and be able to refer her to local statutory, voluntary and community support services
- Have explored actions for their own project to take in order to implement the Code of Practice and become active on the issue of domestic violence
Level 2 Code of Practice Training on Domestic Violence
Level 2 training is a follow on training to support projects who have undertaken our Level 1 training to achieve a more in-depth awareness on the issue of domestic violence. Women's Aid conducted a needs analysis with projects to find out what their training needs were having completed the Code of Practice training. The results of this needs analysis strongly highlighted the need for training in two key areas:
- in-depth training on supporting a woman who discloses experiences of domestic violence
- training specifically on children and domestic violence
Level 2 training devotes one day to each of these key areas and is open to any individual who has participated in our Level 1 training.
What participants have said about Women's Aid Training
"The Code of Practice itself can, in the first place, raise awareness among staff and board members, and then become a tool for further service"
"We deal with it [domestic violence] every day within our project and every day it's a learning tool for everyone in our project"
"In our community domestic violence is a difficult issue and the Code of Practice will be adhered to within our project"
"I feel that continued training reminds us of the skills we should be using in dealing with the issue"
"I now feel as if I have guidelines with which I can work and know what I need to say / do to make things easier for the woman"
"It is important that the first point of contact is aware of how to deal with disclosure and how and to whom to refer"
"I have learned the skills on how to accept and reassure a lady who will approach me and hopefully refer her on to a frontline service"
"Now I know the necessary steps to take and increased awareness of existing services available"
"We don't have to be able to "fix" everything - we need to have a coordinated response for all staff"
"To date our response has been guarded and almost tokenistic. Now there is an awareness that this needs to be implemented in a more structured way"
"We need to put more steps in place and make it known that we support these women"
"I now understand the process that a woman must go through in order to come out the other side. I have a better understanding of my role and how I can facilitate change"