About us

About Us

The Faith and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Coalition is the UK’s independent authority on faith-literacy in VAWG. We up-skill the Ending VAWG sector and equip faith organisations so that survivors of domestic abuse or any other form of gender-based violence, who are women from faith backgrounds are understood and protected without having to choose between safety and their religion or belief.

We work across the Ending VAWG sector to embed faith literacy and ensure holistic care at first contact. We can do this because we are a coalition of organisations, professionals and activists with an array of expertise who all believe that faith and global majority communities have a vital role to play in ending violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Why we exist

Survivors with a faith tell us that too often the support they need from professionals and the VAWG sector is lacking. Whilst positive intention is there, the gap in faith literacy and the inability to understand the role faith plays in their lives means that additional barriers are faced when accessing support, particularly, for survivors of domestic abuse. It also means that the impact of spiritual abuse on a woman’s safety, behaviour and mental health are not understood. Similarly, survivors also tell us that their faith communities are not always able to offer the support they would like, because they do not have the tools and lack the of understanding of the dynamics of abuse. Faith leaders and institutions are also not aware of the support services that are available. Survivors, therefore, fall through the gaps.

The Coalition believes that survivors from faith backgrounds, deserve support, safety and justice. As the UK’s independent leading authority on faith literacy in VAWG we build bridges between faith communities and the VAWG sector to standardise safe practice, build faith literacy and connect faith organisations and frontline services.

The Faith and VAWG Coalition was co-founded and brought together by a range of organisations (Standing Together, Restored, Respect, Muslim Youth Helpline, Jewish Women's Aid, Forward UK and Latin American Women's Rights Service) and activists (Sara Hyde, Natalie Collins and Nikki Dhillon-Keane).

What We Do

Faith communities and the VAWG sector share the commitment to protecting the vulnerable. The Faith & VAWG Coalition turns that shared commitment into coordinated, faith-literate practice so survivors are understood and protected, whomever they turn to.

We are the strategic bridge between faith communities and the violence against women and girls sector. We build faith-literacy, standardise safe practice, and connect the people and organisations working to keep survivors safe so survivors do not have to choose between their safety or their faith.

We bring people together

We convene the spaces that don't otherwise exist, where academics, practitioners, campaigners, survivors, and faith communities can think, learn and build together. Our events, panels and knowledge-sharing sessions connect people working on VAWG and domestic abuse across different faith traditions, and across all four nations, leading to relationships that strengthen practice and ultimately help survivors access safety and justice.

Our growing membership community means that VAWG services and faith organisations don't work in isolation. We connect services, ‘by and for’ organisations, community organisations and practitioners so that they work together.

We build knowledge and practice

We publish research that equips both faith communities and the VAWG sector to develop evidence-based approaches, so survivors from faith backgrounds stay engaged with services and feel holistically supported.

Our training helps faith organisations understand their safeguarding responsibilities and align them with their values and traditions. It helps VAWG practitioners develop the faith literacy they need to reduce drop-off, improve first contact, and build trust.

We amplify survivor voices

We respond to national consultations and contribute to policy processes to ensure that survivors from faith backgrounds are not forgotten but are part of collective effort in shaping the systems meant to protect them. We carry those voices into the rooms where decisions are made.

We work across the whole sector

Unlike organisations working within a single tradition or service, the Faith & VAWG Coalition works across faiths and non, across sectors, and across the UK. We are not an interfaith organisation and our members are unique organisations and practitioners committed to our vision of ending violence towards women and girls. We are the only organisation building faith-literacy and we do it in partnership, not in isolation.

Our history

The Faith and VAWG Coalition emerged from a conference organised by Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse in November 2018. The conference’s aim was to explore how to further involve Faith communities and institutions in addressing VAWG, while acknowledging ways in which Faith communities (like all strands of society) replicate gender inequality. The overwhelming turnout for the conference, and positive feedback suggested the need for a professional and strategic space where VAWG specialists and professionals working with faith and cultural contexts can come together.

The first meeting of the Coalition took place in May 2019. It discussed the foundational conference and assessed its potential for future networking, sharing of resources, and improving understanding surrounding VAWG and communities’ ability to promote good practice.