Race Equity Series: Q&A with Amadudu

Amadudu Women’s refuge is a by and for service that works with and on behalf of
BME women and children fleeing domestic abuse, providing refuge, advocacy and
support in accessing resettlement, education, legal aid/support, benefits entitlement,
trauma informed holistic therapies/counselling and emotional one to one support
throughout the journey at Amadudu refuge. We provide a refuge with temporary
accommodation for 6 families, which is staffed 24 hours per day 7 days per week.

To varying degrees, BME women and children fleeing domestic abuse will have been
controlled in all areas of their lives. Amadudu Women’s Refuge ethos is to empower
women and children so that they take back control, enabling them to fulfil emotional,
educational, economic, and social aspirations. We work to achieve this by ensuring
that it is the voice of the woman/child that steers decision-making processes. All
women and children co-produce their individual support plans and goals they wish to
achieve, enabling structure for their individual support needs to be met and working
towards being independent and living lives free from violence.

A large percentage of staff at Amadudu Women’s refuge have varied lived
experiences of domestic abuse as BME women, giving valuable insight into the
many barriers faced by BME women and children when navigating predominantly
generic services that overlook diverse complexities that can often leave women
feeling disempowered and unheard in all areas. We advocate for women to ensure
they can navigate services including legal, health, education, housing, schools,
preparing women for meeting with children’s services, family court cases,
immigration.

Says Jacqui and Beverley.

At Amadudu, we support Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) women and children
escaping domestic abuse by providing tailored services for recovery and tackling
barriers related to inequality.

Amadudu takes the stance that intersectionality prompts us to question whether
current social care theories and methods truly serve children, youth, and adults. We
believe that, unlike other approaches, intersectionality connects theory directly with
lived experiences of multiple oppressions, positioning it as a unique tool for global
social justice. Rooted in Black women’s experiences, it centres Indigenous
knowledge and client perspectives as essential contributions to anti-racist practice.

As an organisation, Amadudu must recognise our privilege of power relative to
personal lived experience and ensure that our position of power does not supersede
the voices and experiences of those we work for and with, placing our power in a
position to support women and children to overcome barriers and challenges faced
in an unequal society.

Says Jacqui.

When thinking about how intersectionality can sometimes end up being focused on
how particular identity groups experience the world, losing sight of driving oppressive
power dynamics, the first thing that comes to mind is that this focus takes our gaze
away from the root of where problems lay, e.g., who, how and why did oppressive
power dynamics emerge in the first place. This takes away accountability from those
wielding power and further victimises those groups whose lived experience is
shaped by oppressive power dynamics.

Placing focus mainly on particular identity groups runs the risk of becoming a political
tool that shapes how, where, and for whom vital funding for services is placed, pitting
one oppressed group against another, creating further division amongst those in
decision-making positions, from practitioner to policymaker, to funding bodies, to
central and local government.

We hear, if privileged enough to sit in on strategy meetings, trends of where
spending will go based on political weight at that particular time, demonstrate the
danger of oppressive power dynamics that can determine what services will survive
and what services will be lost.

Says Jacqui.

Yes Amadudu are strategically placed in domestic abuse strategic forums, we
challenge the power imbalances, ask for equality impact assessments to be
thorough, we actively contribute to revision of policies and strategies , we challenge
services we work with where we feel and see that their decisions are causing further
harm to women and children, including our work with social workers, legal
professionals, health professionals, housing services, we advocate strongly for
services to recognise and meet service users needs effectively, and are not afraid to
lodge formal complaints where required. Where we feel people in power are trying
to be too intrusive for no good reason with service users, with the woman’s consent
we will challenge and advocate for women/children. We have done this with Housing
options team, social services, other institutions.

Says Beverley.

Speak to people who are representative of intersectionality, work closer with services
like us and not just pay lip service, have people with lived experiences in positions of
power and roles that can truly inform best practice.

Understand the intersectionality of Black women and impact on day to day lives and
have meaningful conversations to inform improved work for anti-racist work for all.
Listen and give Minoritised women and children a voice and platforms to influence
and enable change, provide adequate resources for women to have better life chances and outcomes.

Says Beverley.

For intersectionality to be done well in civil society over the next 5-10 years, firstly, it
must be acknowledged as a matter of duty in all organisations that intersectionality
enables practitioners to fulfil legal and ethical responsibilities by recognizing
diversity, addressing disadvantage and discrimination, promoting social justice, and
resolving inequality.

There needs to be a total shake-up in how those in power are educated and trained
to develop skills and understanding of the needs, based on more than just tick-box
exercises as a means of determining where inequality lies.

I would go further and say there needs to be a whole shake-up in education from the
bottom up. We need to move away from the romanticised version of how the
Western world was developed and be honest about the multiple harms caused as a
direct result of slavery, colonialisation, patriarchy, gender, class, and ableism.

We need to move away from the standard one/two-day training models used to
develop organisational competency in anti-racist practice, cultural competence,
equality & diversity. There needs to be a more in-depth method of training for the
effective implementation of good practice, rather than what is tantamount to a couple
of hours glossing over what has been generically decided as key points of
understanding.

In my experience, facilitators of these one/two-day training courses are white,
oftentimes with their catchphrase being ‘I grew up on an estate and we had nothing’
as a means of expressing understanding of inequality. Nine times out of ten, I am the
only person in a room full of white professionals and practitioners who will raise
issues of racism, sexism, and domestic abuse. For me, this demonstrates a lack of
awareness, as well as a lack of representation and recruitment by organisations to
work effectively on behalf of their service users, or indeed to use their position to
influence changes in policies and practices that further disenfranchise those they
proclaim to serve.

There needs to be a more effective way in which those coming up behind us are
encouraged through inclusive educational opportunities to ensure a more diverse
sector of professionals and practitioners.

We need to address legislation around immigration that serves to continue the
othering of human beings. We have many telephone referrals for women who have
no recourse to public funds, fleeing domestic abuse. Due to a lack of space, we are
unable to accept all referrals and are aware that many refuges will not accept women
with no recourse to public funds due to financial implications for their service.

In this day and age, it is worrying that despite access to funding and support from
agencies such as Imkaan and Southall Black Sisters, there is a lack of knowledge on
how to access this support by generic services, who would rather turn women and
children away, than research where and how funding can be accessed. When I
mention these pathways to funding, I am met with ‘oh, I’ve never heard of them’
again, demonstrating a need for better intersectionally informed training to promote
the asking of questions, ‘what, who is missing’ from services available.

Says Jacqui.