Say No to Domestic Violence – Your Life Your Future Your Way and the SAWN App

This is our WODIN inaugural blog post and we are starting strong, talking about You. Your Life, Your Future, Your Way, a term coined by the SAWN Sarati Women who have said NO to Domestic Violence and Intimate Partner Violence. It is time for Women and Digital Inclusion to join in and raise our voice with all the women worldwide who are suffering violence at the hands of those who profess to love them.

WODIN was commissioned to create an App that would be used by women facing Domestic Violence or who have just come away from such an environment and need support and the strength to keep going. To rebuild their lives. To be part of the change they need. And to help other women gather the strength and courage to walk away from such relationships.

When we first received the commission, we were very excited, yet also concerned about the impact of the SAWN App as we chose to call it, what it could do. And if we were up to the task!

We did as much research as we could and got to work consulting the client, our own community, and women we knew who had walked away and succeeded in spite of the pain.

We got enough information to start creating the workflow and creating the MPV… and the rest is history as they say.

WHY the SAWN APP?

Every woman deserves to live a life free from abuse, especially at the hands of an intimate partner or at home. Period.

The SAWN App was created to help women understand this Truth and reach out for help, share their lived experiences to help other women too.

The SAWN App against Domestic Violence arose from the SAWN visionary… A bit of a back story…

For over 15 years, our partner and client Support and Action Women’s Network – SAWN has been and continues to be the go-to community organisation and charity for BME women in Oldham and Greater Manchester affected by domestic violence and abuse.

SAWN is the brainchild of Mrs. Rose Ssali, an inspiring woman committed to the cause of the BME Women in Oldham and the UK in general.

Rose has appeared on The BBC, The Guardian, And various media platforms standing in the gap and fighting the cause of the BME Woman.

On a good day, you will find her happily helping another woman find her feet in a new life in Oldham, whatever it takes. She is the epitome of selflessness and love for womankind. Rose surrounds herself with people, a Team of equally committed women who lovingly call each other the SAWN Family.

A mother herself, she embodies what every immigrant woman should do to ensure BME gets a fair deal in their communities in the UK.

They advise support, signpost, and educate BMW Women on what to do if faced with Violence at home.

They also meet once a week on a Tuesday between 11:00 am – 1 pm on Zoom to encourage, offer support, talk about their week, and share. They call it the Sarati Project, and we at WODIN encourage any woman in the Northwest, South, east anywhere in the UK to reach out and connect on this Virtual Brunch with the SAWN Women who stand together against Domestic Violence.

Domestic violence and abuse affect millions of women in the UK, and for Black and Ethnic Minoritized – BME women, it is tied up with cultural misconceptions and for many, Immigration challenges.

Domestic violence takes many forms; including but not limited to physical and sexual abuse, financial and economic abuse, controlling and coercive behaviour, Social isolation of victims by perpetrators, etc.

In many BME women cases, the victim is unaware that she is being abused, and usually too scared to seek or even accept help.

The SAWN App went live on the Google PlayStore and in Oldham, Greater Manchester UK on the MHAPP International Women’s Day celebration on 10^th March 2021.

The SAWN App is a free app that provides support and information to any BME woman in the Greater Manchester area of Oldham, who may be in an abusive relationship. Or if you are a woman concerned about someone you know who may be facing domestic violence.

Created in partnership with Oldham Partnership, Action Together, Standing Together Community Grant, and Support and Action Women’s Network – SAWN, a UK-based BME crisis support charity.

The SAWN App enables users to connect with other women who have lived through various Domestic abuse situations, offers helplines to call and share their experience directly inside the App.

It is a safe space to share, report an incident, that way you are sign posted to your nearest support center.

With the SAWN App, one can access information about different forms of abuse and how to help a friend who may be facing such abuse.

The app is also designed to be used by specialist and non-specialist practitioners and any BME woman looking for information about issues around domestic abuse such as online safety, stalking and harassment, and sexual consent.

Download the SAWN App on the Google PlayStore today.