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In Claire’s words: being a Pioneer

Claire* is a SafeLives Pioneer. She experienced years of emotional abuse and manipulation from her ex-partner. A former translator and journalist, Claire – alongside three other women – went on to found the charity VOICES, which supports survivors to rebuild their lives. Here she explains what being a Pioneer means to her.

The German word “vote” and “voice” is the same: “Stimme”

Not having an equal vote within a relationship feels like having no voice. Being a Pioneer for SafeLives, for me, is all about strengthening the voices of others to challenge abusive behaviour.

I got involved with SafeLives in the first place because of a simple idea to found a singing group for people like me, recovering from the effects of abusive relationships. That initial contact led to the community group I was part of becoming involved in consultation and eventually, to my joining SafeLives’ Family Friends and Survivors consultation forum.

Our local group became the charity VOICES, which I now run, providing holistic support and services for survivors together with training and consultation.

Working as one of the SafeLives Pioneers, there is a real feeling of strength and purpose in being part of the national conversation on challenging domestic abuse, and I would like to see as many survivor voices as possible have the opportunity to be heard in the months and years to come.

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Survivor voices

A group of experts by experience came together and named themselves the SafeLives Pioneers, because they want to use their experiences and passion to change the world. Their voices inform everything we do, and together we aim to transform the response to domestic abuse in the UK – for every victim and survivor and their children.

Our Pioneers

Pioneers’ expertise and passion makes our work meaningful, authentic and effective. Find out more about Pioneering at SafeLives.

Our history

Over the years we have developed a unique approach that combines survivor voice, evidence, and best practice to make a real difference to families across the UK. Find out about the work we have achieved over the years.