Issue 1: 2020 Overview
2020 Overview
Happy new year from us here at Olive Pathway!
We hope you all had a great start to the new year despite the newly announced national lockdown restrictions.
With the ongoing pandemic, there has been an alarming spike in the number of Domestic Violence and Gender Based Violence cases, and we have been busy providing support to victims in Greater Manchester.
We hope you all had a great start to the new year despite the newly announced national lockdown restrictions.
With the ongoing pandemic, there has been an alarming spike in the number of Domestic Violence and Gender Based Violence cases, and we have been busy providing support to victims in Greater Manchester.
What we do
Olive Pathway is dedicated to eradicating Domestic Abuse and Gender Based Violence (GBV) within the Black and Minority Ethnic communities in Greater Manchester.
We implement a holistic approach by providing out-of-hours on-call support, early intervention support, crisis support, advocacy, outreach support, emotional support, trauma informed support, confidence building, family mediation, coaching and mentoring, culturally sensitive counselling, one to one specialist sessions and signposting vulnerable domestic violence victims to safe shelter and multi-agencies.
We implement a holistic approach by providing out-of-hours on-call support, early intervention support, crisis support, advocacy, outreach support, emotional support, trauma informed support, confidence building, family mediation, coaching and mentoring, culturally sensitive counselling, one to one specialist sessions and signposting vulnerable domestic violence victims to safe shelter and multi-agencies.
What we have done in 2020.
With the Covid-19 crises and lockdowns, we have had several challenges as a non-governmental organization, notwithstanding we remained open to help provide support to women and families who desperately needed support.
Work resumed to fair normalization by the second half of the year. We continued to provide specialist services, and we carried out several projects in 2020.
Work resumed to fair normalization by the second half of the year. We continued to provide specialist services, and we carried out several projects in 2020.
Here is a quick overview of how the last six months of 2020 was for Olive Pathway:
June
In response to the Covid-19 crisis, we provided food items to forty (40) black and minority ethnic women and families across Greater Manchester to help support families struggling financially. 4EVERManchester provided us with funding to support this outreach, and the families were very appreciative.
July
We secured some funding from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) through Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to continue delivering our tailored service amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. The MoJ also funded the role of our Project Lead, this extra hand has made the increasing workload easier to manage to which we remain grateful to the MoJ and GMCA.
August - September
The Covid-19 pandemic dramatically increased violence against women. The UN called this rise in Gender Based Violence the “shadow pandemic” In 2020, Domestic violence cases rose by 20%; a phone call relating to Domestic Violence was made to the police every 30 seconds.
According to BBC’s Panorama, Two-thirds of women in abusive relationships have suffered more violence from their partners during the pandemic. Three-quarters of victims also say the lockdown has made it harder for them to escape their abusers.
We continued to offer our specialist services to help support survivors of Gender Based Violence and Domestic Violence in Greater Manchester all through the lockdowns last year and this was delivered through face-to-face consultations with social distancing measures in place and remotely through telephone and video call consultations.
According to BBC’s Panorama, Two-thirds of women in abusive relationships have suffered more violence from their partners during the pandemic. Three-quarters of victims also say the lockdown has made it harder for them to escape their abusers.
We continued to offer our specialist services to help support survivors of Gender Based Violence and Domestic Violence in Greater Manchester all through the lockdowns last year and this was delivered through face-to-face consultations with social distancing measures in place and remotely through telephone and video call consultations.
October
Olive Pathway turned 6! To mark our anniversary, we celebrated our huge milestone and the achievements of our founder and CEO, Memory Nyahunzwi.
In honour of Black History Month, we also celebrated a few strong black women who have made history by using their stories and platforms to raise awareness and get more women to speak out on their Domestic Abuse experiences.
youtube.com/watch?v=3cn2rt_toRM&feature=emb_imp_woyt
In honour of Black History Month, we also celebrated a few strong black women who have made history by using their stories and platforms to raise awareness and get more women to speak out on their Domestic Abuse experiences.
youtube.com/watch?v=3cn2rt_toRM&feature=emb_imp_woyt
We also launched a TABLE TALK platform in form of a show. The focus for this is to host various guests; members of the public, community leaders, professionals, victims and survivors of Domestic Abuse and Gender Based Violence (GBV) to engage and participate in critical and sensitive discussions on selected themes, topics around Domestic Abuse and GBV within the BME communities.
November
We continued to provide specialist support through risk assessments, safety planning, welfare checks, coaching/mentoring sessions, and culturally sensitive counselling and one to one specialist sessions to our service users.
December
Our Founder and CEO, Memory Nyahunzwi became a Panel Member for Greater Manchester (GM) Women and Girls Equality Panel that aims to accelerate gender equality by tackling inequalities and disparity issues.
As part of the press release statement launched on the 7th December, she said: “I feel honored to be part of this. I wanted to be on the Panel to be the voice and represent BAME women and girls.
As part of the press release statement launched on the 7th December, she said: “I feel honored to be part of this. I wanted to be on the Panel to be the voice and represent BAME women and girls.
I want to assist in addressing current and existing gender equality issues and systematic barriers faced by women, especially by BAME women from disadvantaged, marginalised and less privileged communities.
“The establishment of the Panel is an important moment in advancing gender equality issues in Greater Manchester affecting women and girls regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief. It will serve as a platform that promotes equality and inclusion for women and girls and will enable panel members to work collaboratively, strategically and critically review equality issues, strengthen current systems, policies and procedures and ultimately yield positive results and change that ensures empowerment for women and girls in Greater Manchester.”
We secured additional funding from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to continue delivering our tailored service amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
We provided one-to-one timeslots to meet with all service users to review risk assessment, safety plans, and general welfare to provide better support. We were also able to pay a socially distant visit to all our service users, this was aimed to put a smile on their faces and to drop off a Christmas goodies bag for them.
“The establishment of the Panel is an important moment in advancing gender equality issues in Greater Manchester affecting women and girls regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief. It will serve as a platform that promotes equality and inclusion for women and girls and will enable panel members to work collaboratively, strategically and critically review equality issues, strengthen current systems, policies and procedures and ultimately yield positive results and change that ensures empowerment for women and girls in Greater Manchester.”
We secured additional funding from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to continue delivering our tailored service amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
We provided one-to-one timeslots to meet with all service users to review risk assessment, safety plans, and general welfare to provide better support. We were also able to pay a socially distant visit to all our service users, this was aimed to put a smile on their faces and to drop off a Christmas goodies bag for them.
This year 2021, we are ready to provide support to more women from the Black and
Minority Ethnic Groups in Greater Manchester who are experiencing any form of
violence. We also hope to work closely with relevant authorities in order to close some
gaps especially in the areas of concern like NO RECOURSE TO PUBLIC FUNDS (NRPF)
for victims of Domestic Abuse and Violence.
Our mission is to give a voice to the victims, eradicate domestic violence, and eliminate gender inequality. There is no excuse for abuse, and no one should endure in silence. If you or someone you know is experiencing Gender Based Violence or Domestic Violence, please speak out and get help.
Our mission is to give a voice to the victims, eradicate domestic violence, and eliminate gender inequality. There is no excuse for abuse, and no one should endure in silence. If you or someone you know is experiencing Gender Based Violence or Domestic Violence, please speak out and get help.
Best Wishes,
Olive Pathway
Olive Pathway