Women's Aid: 2000s

2000s
• Women’s Aid began using its current by-line: ‘Until women and children are safe’. 
• Women’s Aid launched the Survivors’ Forum, a specialised survivor’s website for people who have experienced domestic abuse to anonymously share their experiences and support each other. 

2000
• Women’s Aid launched the internet campaign project ‘Womenspeak’ on 6 March. This was a first-of-its-kind interactive website to enable women survivors of domestic violence to communicate their experiences safely and anonymously directly to MPs. The month-long project received almost 1000 contributions from women throughout the country.
• Women’s Aid contributed to ‘The Day to Count’, a Metropolitan Police awareness campaign in which all domestic violence-related contact was counted by police services throughout the UK on 28 September.

2001
• Women’s Aid launched the health and domestic violence campaign ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ in July, with a week of action commencing 2 July. The aims of the campaign were to raise public awareness that domestic violence is a health issue and to encourage health bodies and professionals to develop positive responses to domestic violence.
• The first issue of the Women’s Aid members-only magazine ‘safe’ was released in December.

2003
• Women’s Aid advised the BBC on its ‘Hitting Home’ campaign, a two-week programme schedule in February focusing on domestic violence.
• The Freephone 24-Hour National Domestic Violence Helpline was launched, run in partnership with Refuge.

2004
• Women’s Aid began supporting soap actor and later Women’s Aid Ambassador Bill Ward on a domestic abuse storyline on Coronation Street.
• Women’s Aid worked with the Women’s National Commission and 300 organisations to lobby for amendments to the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, making common assault an arrestable offence 
• Women’s Aid celebrated their 30th anniversary at Downing Street in November, hosted by Sarah Brown, patron of Women’s Aid and wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. 

2005
• ‘The Hideout’ was launched as the first national website providing support and information for children and young people who experience domestic violence.
• The Survivor’s Handbook was launched with help from The Body Shop, which is still used today to provide practical support and guidance for women experiencing domestic abuse. 

2007
• Women’s Aid launched the celebrity public awareness campaign ‘ACT - until women and children are safe’ at 11 Downing Street on 1 February. Photographer Rankin took head and shoulder portraits of a range of well-known female faces made up to show a physical effect of domestic abuse. The aim of the campaign was to mainstream the issue of domestic violence.
• Women’s Aid launched ‘Kidspeak’, an online consultation with children and young people from June-July. The information from the online forums was used as evidence to lobby the government.

2008
• Women’s Aid published ‘The Educational Toolkit’, a free manual for teachers and youth organisations.

2009
• Women’s Aid released the ‘Cut’ campaign film in April, starring Keira Knightley and directed by Joe Wright. Intended to raise funds and awareness of domestic abuse, the film was critically acclaimed and a fundraising success, despite being banned from TV for its violent depictions of domestic abuse.
• Women’s Aid first partnered with Avon in late 2009. The relationship led to Avon donating portions of their sales revenues to support Women’s Aid projects and launching the joint ‘Empowering Women’ Awards.

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