Awareness-raising aim as Caithness and Sutherland Women’s Aid marks first 20 years
The Women’s Aid charity for the far north is aiming to mark its 20th anniversary by raising awareness of its work in support of women, children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse.
Founded in 2005, Caithness and Sutherland Women’s Aid (CASWA) employs a small team of domestic abuse specialists who are backed by a management team, board members and a volunteer.
In 2024, CASWA received 217 referrals and provided support to 190 women and 91 children and young people.
Deputy manager Emma Fraser said: “Our 20th year is really important for CASWA. We want to use it as an opportunity to raise more awareness of the work we do as well as acknowledge and mark our charity’s legacy and reputation in providing quality, reputable and specialised support to women, children and young people locally.
“CASWA has been forged from the ground up as a grassroots, local charity by a team of women. The legacy of the charity is a testament to dedication, passion and commitment of the many women who have been involved in CASWA over a period of 20 years.
“We aim to engage with our community and hope the community will join and support us in marking this important year in CASWA’s history.”
Manager Gillian Hossack pointed out: “Our team have selected a theme for the year of ‘A Light in the Dark’. This was inspired by the feedback we often receive from women, children and young people accessing our service.”
Emma added: “We have launched the year with the publication of our anniversary logo, featuring a lighthouse, as well as a poem written by our resident poet – domestic abuse specialist Juliette Currums.”
Juliette explained: “I have written poems for the 20th anniversary of CASWA to celebrate the wonderful women, children and young people we work with.
“I have written them as a means to explain the complexity of the journey through abuse, which I hope will allow those with no experiences of abuse to understand the impact it can have.”
The charity’s plans for the year will be shared in the news section of the CASWA website and on its social media channels, Facebook and Instagram.
In November and December, CASWA again played its part in the international period of activism against gender-based violence and abuse known as 16 days. The charity welcomed back its “book fairies” for a fourth year, with 16 books being shared via “book drops” across Caithness and Sutherland.
For more information about CASA, visit www.caswa.org.uk
Contact with CASWA can be made via email at info@caswa.org.uk or by phone on 0345 408 0151 (Monday to Friday, 10am-noon, 2pm-4pm). CASWA is closed in the evenings and at weekends.
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Scotland’s Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline (www.sdafmh.org.uk) is available 24/7 at 0800 027 1234.
Nationally, it is estimated that one in four women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime and that one in five children experience domestic abuse in their family.
One in five teenage girls are thought to experience domestic abuse in their own relationships.
In 2023/24, police recorded 63,867 incidents of domestic abuse in Scotland, a three per cent increase from 2022/23. Four in five incidents (81 per cent) involved a female victim and male perpetrator.
