Good morning, everybody. It's Emily here from the willow pod. And today we have with us Deborah Lush. And we're joined by interpreter Jill.
So, first of all, Debra, I'd like to ask you, how long have you worked in domestic abuse services? And how did you get involved in this line of work?
Well, I've been working for definitely webbing for 16 months. And my passion really is to work with people who suffered with domestic abuse. And the reason for that is that I, myself experienced domestic abuse in the past. I mean, it was quite some time ago. But back then, at that time, I didn't realize that that was what was happening. I didn't realize that I was a victim. And so now that I obviously understand what happened, and I see that lots of other women who are deaf and hard of hearing, going through similar situations, and perhaps they don't realize they're unaware that they are the victim of domestic abuse. So that's that's the reason that I wanted to get involved because there are lots of barriers for deaf and hard of hearing can't access the the ordinary mainstream services. And so they're definitely more barriers than for people who are not deaf. And really, it's the it's the communication. That is the the issue there with the with the services. So I also became interested in working in domestic abuse because I'd worked as a volunteer within the police force.
Oh, wow.
So I was there for seven years. And I worked alongside a lady there who was called Jane, Jane Birkin. And she previously was the PLOD manager. So that's the police link officers for deaf people. She's now retired.
Right,
I worked, we worked together, we did quite a lot of work with the deaf community, did some advocacy work and making sure that people had access to police services. And so from that, I thought, I really want to be able to help women who are deaf or hard of hearing, who are in domestic abuse situations. And so yeah, so when I saw this role, it just really was, you know, suitable for me.
Absolutely. And as some people who listened to the podcast know, I myself was a victim, like you, Deborah quite a long time ago, and also didn't realize that it was abuse. Yeah. So what does your day look like in your role? What does a day look like for Deborah?
Oh, gosh, lots of emails. Lots of emails. Yeah. And so yeah, I mean, I visit clients, I go and see them face to face. And now, more so because obviously, during COVID, and with lockdown, I was unable to go and see people. So that made it really difficult. So we were doing things on Zoom like we are now. Or we were also on WhatsApp having video chats on WhatsApp. Obviously now we're starting to go back to do the face to face work with clients again. So I'll be at places like the refuge centre, for example. And so it's just offering support, really providing advice and guidance for people making sure that they have access to different services, that they have interpreters that are available, things like that. And so lots of meetings as well, in my day to day work. And so yeah, liaising with various organizations, also, I signpost, people to different services that they may need. So it could be advocacy, it could be advice, it could be to the Citizens Advice Bureau, solicitors. Obviously it depends on whereabouts in Derbyshire, they live as well. So, I do lots of research. So I spend quite a lot of time on the internet and looking at the government website and guiding people to different information services as well.
Yeah, it's one of those things that have to do you know, it's quite a big piece of the work and at the moment, I'm doing the IDVA course the independent domestic violence advisor course and that's really added to my workload.
Oh, crikey. Yes, rather you than me.
Yeah, it's a lot of work. It's hard work.
So what else does Deaf-initely Women do? Is it just for victims of domestic abuse?
No, it's not no, we have a range of services. And so we have eight different members of the team working here at definitely women, each of us has a different role. So what we offer as an organization is lots of workshops for people. We also, you know, provides like a creative space for people. So they might be able to attend like craft sessions, it might be that they're going for some advice regarding benefits, they might come to us to talk about how to write a will. We offer information about how to budget and deal with finances. And also, obviously, within my project, I offer a lot of workshops for deaf and hard of hearing women as well linked to domestic abuse. So things like how to keep safe online, for example, if people are doing online dating, that's something that I talk about how to keep safe when you go on a date, and you meet new people. How to Spot Warning signs as well, what are some of the warning signs within a relationship that people may not be aware of. And so our organization, really, the aim is to empower Deaf and Hard of Hearing women and DeafBlind women to become more confident, learn new skills, make new friends. And we find that lots of lots of people can be quite isolated, particularly if they're in a more rural area, you know, if they're in rural Darbyshire, it can be quite isolating. So that's the aim of our organization. In addition, we have one member of staff who offers sexual health and reproduction information and guidance. So an education role really provide information and support.
I think we need to team up a bit more around the rural areas.
Yes, I think so. Definitely. Yeah.
Oh, that'd be lovely. I'll send you another email afterwards after the podcast.
So if you had a magic wand, and you could make any changes to the world of domestic abuse, what would you, what would you do?
Well, I do feel very strongly that education needs to start in school. I think to start that at an early age. There seems to be you know, a lot of domestic abuse going on, it could be in the in the family home, like witness experience it and so to teach, teach people, you know, not not just boy, not just girls, but teach the boys as well about what domestic abuse means about what's a healthy relationship and what is not acceptable. Yeah. That you know, women also have rights and they should be treated on an equal in even keel. There seems to be quite a lot of things on tick tock,
ah, yeah,
I see a lot of girls, they're looking at videos on tick tock thinking, you know, that this is okay. And perhaps that they're, you know, the sort of, you know, giving themselves away to these boys and you thinking, some of this actually is not okay, now. It's not not right. And I think that there's a real gap at the moment. It's a big gap in that kind of education. And that's something that I feel really passionate about, is that to get that education in early.
Absolutely. And then I just wanted to ask you, Deborah, how is it different for a woman who isdeaf? Or who has hearing loss who's being abused? What are the different challenges that, that she might face?
Well, first of all, if a deaf person is a British sign language user, then that for them to access English it might not be that easy if it's if it's their second language, so they may struggle with English I'm not saying that all deaf women that you sign language can also access English, but for some, for some women, it's a second language and they'll struggle with it. And so that, then can make them really struggled to connect to services or to different organizations, because they are afraid they don't really understand how to express themselves and what the services do. And also, maybe, for example, there are some services that you can text. But when they text back, they might not understand what the text says. And so they then need to think about, I need to get another organization or get an interpreter to help me with this information. And so it's not immediate. And so to get interpreters, you need to book them in advance. And so it can make it more problematic. Sometimes, a client doesn't want an interpreter to know they want direct support. And so that's why often they'll just carry on and they won't say anything to anybody. And they feel like they've got nobody to turn to. And the because the deaf community is also it's quite close knit, it's quite small. Everybody knows each other. Yeah, that as well can be part of the reason that some people feel maybe a little bit of, you know, might feel ashamed and embarrassed. They don't want people to know. So they worry about that. The main reason for for deaf people facing barriers is down to communication. Yeah, yeah. And because a lot of different organizations, they don't really have text services, generally, it'll say, Oh, you can phone this number. So they're just immediately inaccessible, it's not straightforward for them out of Hearing and DeafBlind women to access services. And also, if a deaf woman is with a hearing partner, so their partner's not deaf, they may be quite reliant on them to do everything. And so just you know, your everyday daily tasks, perhaps. So they might feel a little bit like, well, if I leave them, then I'm not going to be able to cope because they do this, this and this for me. And so that's another reason that they may not say anything, and the major sort of carry on keep the status quo. And just put up with some of the things that they put up with.
Yes, like you say, if you have to book an interpreter, you can't just flee? Because she can't call your interpreter to help you out.
No, exactly. That's right. Yeah, it's very difficult to vary. And not just deaf people, either. Yeah. And obviously, I understand, you know, with people with various disabilities, whether you use a wheelchair user, for example, of course, not easy to flee. And if you have additional requirements, it's even harder. So.
Absolutely. And also, it's interesting how you said, with the deaf community being very, everybody knows everybody. It's very similar to what we talked about in the willow project training. Oh, really? Yeah. So so the similarities between Yeah, the similarities between the two communities, we definitely need to work together, Deborah.
Yeah. And also, I think that the confidence issue is an untrust is quite a big, big thing. Because the deaf community is small, people become easily suspicious, you know, am I going to keep quiet, they often they worry that I'm not going to be confidential. And so people can often be quite suspicious and say, That's a concern that that information is going to go further than me. And obviously, it's not, I'm a professional, but it's trying to instill that confidence in people and it takes trust to to say it takes time to get that trust instilled. Yeah, slowly, but surely, now people are starting to come forward, which is great to see. It's just taking a bit of time. So finally, it's happening. It's just carried on with them, you know, advertising what we do getting the information out there so that people can see what we're doing and what we could do for them. And just keeping going with that, really. And also, of course, with COVID. It's been very, very difficult. Yeah, I mean, obviously now, it does seem to be getting a little bit better, hopefully. So
fingers crossed.
Yeah, fingers crossed, indeed.
Well, it's been lovely speaking to you, Deborah. And thank you, Jill, for coming along, too. I'm going to put all your contact details in the bottom of our podcast information. And also, I'm really impressed listeners, I found a website which can transcribe everything we've said so it will be available for people to read as well if they if they want to.
Yeah, brilliant. That's great. Thank you very much. Lovely. Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. We do actually have another website. And it's called Spring Derbyshire.
Right.
And on there, there are lots and lots of links and lots of information regarding domestic abuse. It's all signed. So there's all information in sign language on that. And explanations of what words mean. So it's a bit of a glossary for people because as I said, If Deaf people struggle with English, then there's there's some terminology in there for people to, to get to grips with, with what things mean.
I'll put that in the in the description as well. That's lovely, brilliant. Thank you. So I just want to say, say thank you again for coming along. And it's been lovely speaking to you. And hopefully, I will speak to you again in the near future and do another podcast with you.
Yeah, definitely. I'd love that. Thank you very much. Thank you for inviting me.
So we'll sign off now. And we're hopeful that hopefully the listeners really enjoy this podcast because I've really enjoyed doing it.
