Sonas Housing Association Ltd

Sonas has just produced its evaluation of the Sonas Freedom Programme which you can download here.

In late 2011 Sonas ran the first Freedom Programme in Ireland. The Freedom Programme is a support group developed in the UK and designed for women who are experiencing or have experienced domestic violence. The Freedom Programme gives women an opportunity and space to develop ways of thinking and behaving to protect themselves and their children from harm.

We delivered the programme in two Sonas locations: one targeting Viva House Reach-out clients; and the second in one of our supported housing complexes.

We have just finished the Evaluation Report of this programme which shows the Programme has many positive impacts and outcomes for participants.

The main findings were as follows:

• 100% of participants said the Freedom Programme had a positive impact on their lives
• 100% of participants rated the Freedom Programme as very helpful

Because of their participation in the Freedom Programme:

• 100% agreed (82% strongly agreed) the programme has resulted in positive change in their lives
• 100% agreed (55% strongly agreed) they are now more hopeful about the future
• 100% agreed (55% strongly agreed) they were more assertive
• 100% agreed (64% strongly agreed) they were more confident
• 91% agreed (64% strongly agreed) they no longer blame themselves for their abuser’s behaviour
• 100% agreed (82% strongly agreed) they can now more sense of the abuser’s behaviour
• 100% agreed (82% strongly agreed) they now feel less alone in their experience of domestic violence
• 100% agreed (91% strongly agreed) they benefited from meeting other women on the programme
• 91% agreed (73% strongly agreed) they now expect to be respected
• 100% agreed (82% strongly agreed) they were more aware about domestic violence and its effects
• 100% agreed (82% strongly agreed) they can now recognise and identify abusive behaviour
• 91% agreed (27% strongly agreed) they feel they have the ability to respond to abusive behaviour
• 100% (73% strongly agreed) they could now recognise an unhealthy relationship

As well as the quantitative findings, women had an opportunity to explain their reasons for selecting their answers. The main themes that emerged from the qualitative questions were:

• Greater strength and confidence – many women said that the programme made them stronger and made them feel more able to stand up for themselves
• More awareness of controlling behaviours towards them and signs of abuse. For example, one woman said that she recognised things that she didn’t see as abusive.
• The peer-bonding element of having group support was cited as being very important by many women with one woman an important impact for her was that she now knows she is not alone. Another woman said it was important to her that others understood her feelings around her experiences.
• More hope for the future – many women said they felt more positively about the future as a result of taking part in the programme.
• Boundaries – more awareness that the abuser is responsible for his own behaviour and no one else is.
• Rollout of the programme – many of the participants hoped the programme would be rolled out to help more women as well as educate professionals working in the area.

Below are a snapshot from participants’ comments. You can read more in the final report which you can download here.

• “It made me feel comfortable and make sense of things, made me feel more powerful. It made me understand what happened in my life.”
• “It has made me more aware of signs and made me understand what both my daughter and I have gone through and for me what started with my dad in my own childhood.”
• “More aware, less confused, not alone, stronger, understand more, don’t blame myself anymore.”
• “It made me strong.”
• “It has turned my life from a negative to a positive. It is as its name says freedom, from pain, guilt, sorrow, hopelessness and self‑loathing. I know by the will of God I will have a happy life, full and positive on my own or with the good guy.”
• “It made me understand what happened to me is not my fault.”
• “I can now look positively into the future without necessarily blaming myself or feeling sorry for him.”
• “I now know I’m not alone and it has made stronger and more positive to make life changes.”

Tags: Domestic violence, Freedom Programme, Sonas, Sonas Housing Association, Support Groups