For Women in Need, demand for domestic abuse refuge outstrips capacity 

Gibraltar’s shelter for domestic abuse victims is consistently at full capacity, the charity Women in Need has said, describing how demand is so high that even if a new premises was built, it would be filled immediately. 

Victims and their children are fearfully escaping abusive living situations, often arriving at the shelter with just the clothes on their backs. 

Currently there are 21 women, four men and 28 children living in the shelter.  

Many of those children arrived at the charity’s doorstep with nothing, not even toys. 

In life-threatening situations the charity will find space for these victims, but sadly many others are turned away. 

This story is nothing new. Similar statements were published in this newspaper 10 years ago, describing how domestic abuse victims were being turned away even back then.  

A decade later and the story is largely the same. 

Anecdotally, charity managers Michelle Perera and Gianella Attard agreed that the number of people reaching out to the shelter is on the rise, though they are unsure of whether this is due to greater awareness or a rise in domestic abuse. 

They see it daily and often witness firsthand negative attitudes towards the charity and its work. 

Ms Perera and Ms Attard know Women in Need receives less money during flag days than other charities and are sometimes met with vitriol. 

“On a flag day many charities make a lot of money,” Ms Perera said. 

“We don't. We get insulted on the flag day.” 

They recognise why. 

Domestic abuse is a complex issue and often involves more than just two people. 

Children are affected, families are broken, relatives take sides and the pain ripples through familial bonds. 

With children in common, the victim and perpetrator could continue to share responsibilities and have contact with children. This means the cases need to be managed sensitively, despite the heartbreak. 

Ms Perera and Ms Attard turn the other cheek when it comes to these insults. 

“You can't answer,” Ms Perera said. “You just have to turn. You just turn around and you carry on with your thing.” 

There is a security guard on premises at the shelter due to instances of aggression and concerns of violence as abusers visit the shelter to lob insults and continue the pattern of violence. 

“It's a charity that not many people like,” Ms Perera said. 

The charity managers keep their office door locked at all times to keep themselves safe due to past confrontational experiences with abusers.  

During the interview there was a knock on the door and the managers called out, first ensuring that they knew the person before opening. This is the reality for the charity. 

Women in Need receives phone calls daily from, mostly, women in abusive relationships asking for advice, such as for pathways to contact lawyers or even just to talk to someone.  

There are many more calls from homeless people who the charity is unable to help but point to a wider issue with the need for shelter. 

When women, men and children flee abusive households, Ms Perera and Ms Attard aid them with shelter, food vouchers and clothes. 

Every week, around three to five people are assessed by Ms Perera and Ms Attard. Not all of them need space in the shelter, with some just needing advice. 

“Domestic abuse just has no gender, no social life, no nothing,” Ms Perera said. 

“It can be anybody. You name it.” 

Another issue is foreign partners with children in common with Gibraltarians. 

Ms Perera and Ms Attard said these partners can find themselves trapped in Gibraltar as they cannot take their children. 

“Financially they're stuck, because they cannot get a good job or further a career or do something better with their lives, so they stay in poverty,” Ms Attard said. 

Ms Perera added that these people are often unmarried and their circumstances can rapidly become “a mess” as they are entitled to less than married partners. 

“It's heartbreaking to see some of them like that,” Ms Attard said. 

She described how partners will sometimes stop working to pause maintenance payments, leaving the victim trapped in the shelter, in a foreign country, unable to leave for risk of losing their children. 

Local victims of domestic abuse can reside in the shelter for around three to four years, after which they could then access Government housing. 

They are also drug tested before being provided with accommodation. 

“Even if you're a victim of domestic abuse, if you're abusing any kind of substance, you're not entitled to come in, because we have to safeguard the people that we already have,” Ms Perera said. 

She explained how, in an environment with vulnerable adults and children, it is unsafe to have the possibility of drugs present in the shelter. 

Ms Perera said that there are hard-working people living in the shelter, and she added that the Ministry of Equality under Christian Santos has been incredibly supportive.  

The charity is sustained through Government grants. 

At the shelter, the women receive counselling through the GHA and volunteer counsellors. 

For those wishing to donate to Women in Need, it is recommended to provide supermarket vouchers from Morrisons or Eroski.