The importance of by-and-for services: An LGBTIQ+ perspective

Star Support started the UK's first by-and-for LGBTIQ+ domestic abuse refuge thanks to funding from the MOPAC Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Grassroots Fund. We asked co-founder Maari Nastari to share her thoughts on the importance of dedicated services, birthed in and shaped by the LGBTQI+ community:

The Outside Project was set up in 2017 as the UK’s first LGBTIQ+ shelter working with those at risk of or currently rough sleeping. Since its launch, we’ve found a large proportion of those accessing the service to be survivors of domestic abuse. During the COVID-19 pandemic we, like the rest of the sector, saw a significant increase in domestic abuse cases. At the time, there were no dedicated bed spaces for LGBTIQ+ survivors of domestic abuse, leading the Outside Project to launch the “MAKE SPACE FOR HOMELESS QUEERS'' campaign. As a result, four beds were made available for LGBTIQ+ survivors, the only dedicated bed spaces in London.

As the world came out of lockdown in March 2021, we successfully applied for funding from the MOPAC VAWG Grassroots Fund, managed by The London Community Foundation. This was with the aim of turning the project into a permanent service within the Outside Project. We found the organisational development and networking programme that came with the grant award particularly useful, and it was during one of these sessions that we developed a Theory of Change for the project.

This was useful in two ways. Firstly, it allowed us to map out an ambitious vision for this service and helped us to realise that what we wanted to offer was not one, but a range of services to meet the intersectional needs of survivors. Secondly, the work around the Theory of Change allowed us to reflect and regroup, which led to the realisation that the Outside Project was not best-placed to lead on this piece of work because the original mission was more campaign driven and the development of crisis housing, not a specialist domestic abuse service. However, there remained to be no other suitable organisation working on a dedicated accommodation scheme for LGBTIQ+ survivors.

Evidence base

The need for LGBTIQ+ survivors has traditionally not been well-resourced, particularly when it comes to accommodation-related support. Up to this point, there have been no permanent by-and-for [1] refuges for LGBTIQ+ survivors. This is even though the experiences of LGBTIQ+ survivors have been relatively well documented. For example, research has found:

• More than half of all LGBTIQ+ respondents reported having experienced over 20 incidents of domestic abuse [2]

• The most common perpetrators of abuse against LGBTIQ+ survivors were parents – mothers (45%) and fathers (41%). [3]

• 80% of trans people had experienced domestic abuse from a partner or ex-partner. [4]

• One in four lesbian and bi women have experienced domestic abuse in a relationship. [5]

Why by-and-for

Having worked in the LGBTIQ+ housing sector for over 15 years, I have seen how essential by-and-for LGBTIQ+ services are for meeting the needs of our community. While LGBTIQ+ services are set up within mainstream organisations with the best intentions, there are a number of common stumbling blocks I have noticed; a few of examples of these are:

• Due to staff not being part of the community, they often lack community knowledge. This means assessment and support lacks nuances of LGBTIQ+ identities and needs.

• As the service governance is not by-and-for, strategic decisions can be made that impact the LGBTIQ+ community by people who are not part of it.

• As a specialist service within a larger mainstream organisation, these services often get ‘lost’ and they are not invited to specialist meetings or sit around the right tables.

Process

The MOPAC VAWG Grassroots Fund allowed us to see that the Outside Project was not the best organisation to carry this forward, whilst also recognising this work deserved more than being tacked onto a mainstream organisations service provision. Beyond considering whether it was the task of an LGBTIQ+ organisation or a mainstream organisation, we felt it needed to be an organisation that was by-and-for both in terms of being LGBTIQ+ staffed and survivor-led. After careful consideration, we felt as a team and community that it was in the best interests of the community to create a new organisation - an unofficial sister of the Outside Project - and I was tasked with making it happen.

Once we knew what we wanted to achieve, we set about seeking funding and sourcing a building. It was difficult. I presented at so many meetings trying to get a building; people didn’t want to give us a building without funding, and we couldn’t get the funding without a building. It is easy to see how the status quo is maintained, and innovation stifled when you’re trying to do something new.

We set up Star Support as a new non-profit organisation, appointing an independent board of experts. However, we couldn’t receive any major funding as a new organisation. As a workaround, we developed a plan with the Outside Project to work towards our independence based on a two-year partnership.

Eventually, a suitable building came up, although it required substantial work to bring it back to letting standards. This time, however, gave us a window in which to seek funding. It was not easy, but thankfully the team at MOPAC recognised that this was a unique and important opportunity for London and granted the funding. We opened the 11-bed project in September 2023 and have been inundated with referrals even before publicising the launch of the project.

Future

We are proud to be able to run an organisation which centres the voices, needs and experiences of LGBTIQ+ survivors, especially when it comes to their accommodation needs. We are delighted to have opened our first refuge; we also run a weekly support group for survivors and provide advice and support to our community members. Whilst these are big steps forward in service provision for LGBTIQ+ survivors, we recognise there is still a lot to be done. We are excited about building this new organisation, something positive to come out of COVID for the LGBTIQ+ community.

Trans

There is no escaping the ‘debate’ on trans issues. This is a particularly loaded issue within the VAWG sector and it wouldn’t be right for me to post a blog regarding LGBTIQ+ survivors without addressing this. One of the areas Star Support is committed to is improving trans inclusion in mainstream service. We are doing this via our new project TRANSforming Spaces which where we support VAWG and homelessness organisations to work on setting out the offer to trans people in a clear and fair way. We can make sure survivors feel listened to, empowered and supported regardless of their sexuality and /or gender identity, and this is something I’m proud Star Support is able to do and we want to inspire and support others to do the same. If you would like to discuss this or anything else further, please do reach out to the team.

Maari Nastari

The London Community Foundation was working with Maari to produce this blog article. During this time, Maari sadly passed away on 9th December 2024. The London Community Foundation express their deepest condolences to Maari's family, friends and close community. It has been a privilege to work with her, learn from her and see her personal journey from afar.

We are sincerely thankful to Carla Ecola - co-founder of The Outside Project and Star Support for their editorial support to honour Maari's blog article in her own words.

“Maari’s footprints are throughout the foundations of The Outside Project and Star Support. Our partnership was rage and passion to change things so that others didn’t have to go through what we had. I would kick the door in and she would walk in with the plan.

We took our anger and turned it into radical action that would change not just our own lives but the lives of so many others today and in the future.

She was the social worker, mentor and queer family I never knew I needed and through some of the bleakest days of our lives and work her laugh made me laugh every day.”

Carla Ecola

Citations:

[1] By-and-for services are those which are designed and run by members of the community they serve. We use the Mayor's definition, which stipulates at least 80% of staff hold the specified characteristic

[2] Stonewall Housing. (2014). ROAR: Because silence is deadly. London: Stonewall Housing.

[3] Galop (2022). LGBT+ Experiences of Abuse from Family Members. Galop.

[4] Roch, A., Ritchie, G., & Morton, J. (2010). Out of sight, out of mind? Transgender People’s Experiences of Domestic Abuse. LGBT Youth Scotland, Equality Network, Scottish Transgender Alliance

[5] Fish, J., & Hunt, R. (2008). Prescription for change: Lesbian and bisexual women’s health check. London: Stonewall UK