Capital Credit Union and Women’s Aid partner to address domestic abuse

• Goal is to build a greater understanding and awareness of domestic abuse in the community
• Credit Union staff will be trained to recognise, respond and signpost affected members to Women’s Aid 24hr National Freephone Helpline
• There will be an awareness campaign across Capital Credit Union’s branch network

Capital Credit Union is delighted to partner with Women’s Aid to address the issue of domestic abuse. With over 50,000 members, Capital Credit Union wants to build a greater understanding of domestic violence and abuse among its members.

This will involve Capital Credit Union staff receiving specialised training to recognise the signs of abuse, how to respond in a supportive way and how to signpost their members to the Women’s Aid 24hr National Freephone Helpline. There will also be an awareness campaign in all the branches to direct victims to Women’s Aid in an accessible and discreet manner.

Research has shown how domestic abuse disproportionately affects women:

• One in four women experience domestic abuse from a current partner or ex
• There were 26,906 contacts with the 24hr National Freephone Helpline, National Instant Message Support service and the Women’s Aid Face-to-Face services in Dublin last year.
• Women’s Aid support workers heard 33,831 disclosures of domestic violence including coercive control. This included 28,096 disclosures of abuse against women and 5,735 disclosures of child abuse in the context of domestic violence.
• Women’s Aid says that National Helpline contacts with women were longer with 3,863 hours of talk time delivered in 2021 (+8%).
• 22% of women aged 18 to 34 don’t have control of their own finances, showing economic abuse is widespread

The reality is that thousands of women are being subjected to high levels of emotional, physical, sexual, and economic abuse every day, often at the hands of the person who is supposed to care for and respect them.

Gerry McConville, CEO of Capital Credit Union, said at the launch of the campaign,

“Capital Credit Union is delighted to partner with Women’s Aid on this important campaign to protect victims of domestic abuse. With hundreds of visitors to our branches every day and others engaging with us by phone or email, we are uniquely placed to help victims of domestic abuse.

As a Credit Union, we are also very aware of our role in the community. We are an organisation our members can trust, and we want to recognise this by ensuring they get the support they need. Women’s Aid provide amazing services to those in need, and we want to facilitate this.

As the first Credit Union involved in such a scheme, I hope that this campaign inspires other organisations in the financial services sector to partner with charities like Women’s Aid”.

Sarah Benson, CEO of Women’s Aid, said at the launch of the campaign,

“We are delighted to partner with Capital Credit Union on this important training and awareness initiative.  Services in local communities can play a crucial role in raising awareness among those who may need support, including staff and customers.  When someone discloses that they are experiencing abuse, it can be difficult to know what to do.  Quite often people are afraid to say the wrong thing.

Our training and awareness initiative with CCU provides staff with increased understanding and helpful resources on recognising abuse and how to respond in a supportive way.  We know that with the right information credit union staff can make a difference in someone’s journey to safety.  We hope that women who are CCU members, who are experiencing abuse, will call the Women’s Aid 24hr National Freephone Helpline for information, support and referral to local domestic violence services, when needed.”

Capital Credit Union and Women’s Aid hope this campaign will make the services provided by Women’s Aid more visible and accessible to victims of domestic abuse.

Ends

About Capital Credit Union

Capital Credit Union has over 50,000 members and several branches across South Dublin. A highly progressive credit union, Capital Credit Union already offer their members personal loans up to €100,000, mortgages up to €400,000 and business loans up to €400,000. Other services include online banking, as well as a range of insurance services, including Home, Travel and Life Insurance.

Capital Credit Union is always focused on supporting the local community, donating over €50,000 to local schools, charities, and community organisations in 2021 along with a Higher Education Scholarship fund of €25,000. For more information, please visit capitalcu.ie

About Women’s Aid

Women’s Aid is a national frontline organisation working to prevent and address the impact of domestic violence and abuse including coercive control, in Ireland since 1974. We do this by advocating, influencing, training, and campaigning for effective responses to reduce the scale and impacts of domestic abuse on women and children in Ireland and providing high quality, specialised, integrated, support services.  Our work includes providing the 24hr National Freephone Helpline 1800 341 900 and National Instant Message Support Service on www.womensaid.ie, mornings and evenings, 7 days a week.  We also provide Face-to-Face Support and Court Support in the greater Dublin area.  In addition, we have a High-Risk Support Project and Maternity Project and engage in public awareness campaigns; deliver specialised training and internal policy development and Influence Government and policy.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

James Liston, Business Development Manager, Capital Credit Union – jliston@capitalcu.ie | 085 872 0586

Christina Sherlock, Strategic Communications and Fundraising Manager, Women’s Aid – christina.sherlock@womensaid.ie | 087 919 2457