Meet Naomi: advocating for domestic abuse support in traveller communities

Naomi works in our GRTB (Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Boater) service as a Domestic Abuse support worker.

Naomi explains that seeking help can mean risking not just a relationship but family ties, community belonging and identity, making it harder for someone to leave their abuser.

While the close-knit nature of Gypsy and Traveller communities can be supportive, it can also act as a barrier to seeking help if a woman is unable to access services privately or afraid of being ousted.

Marginalised women remain the least likely to access support and more likely to need it.

The major challenge survivors face is the lack of understanding and support from professionals. Women from travelling backgrounds who are fleeing domestic abuse can face ignorance, discrimination and outright abuse from services that are there to support survivors. 

Past experiences of racism can discourage many victims from accessing mainstream services, meaning they are unaware of available services.

This lack of knowledge and awareness often means that victims are left with little choice but to remain with the perpetrator(s).

To ensure that women open up about experience, Naomi builds trust by meeting with them and showing that compassionate help is available, usually over cups of coffee.

They are navigating complexities many of us will never have to face.

Naomi is a strong advocate for the community and making sure that these women are recognised, listened to and treated fairly, especially when they are experiencing domestic abuse and reaching out for help.

Naomi offers training to councils, GP’s, and support services to raise awareness of the issued faced by the community and in turn improve connection, healthy relationships, education and child protection amongst travelling communities.

These women are not hard to reach. They are being historically unheard.