insideKENT Magazine Issue 72 - March 2018 | Page 137

CHARITY
Kent Charity Profile:
OASIS DOMESTIC ABUSE SERVICE
DOMESTIC ABUSE IS A TERRIFYING THING TO ENDURE AS PART OF A
RELATIONSHIP. IT ISN’T ‘JUST’ PHYSICAL ABUSE, BUT CAN BE PSYCHOLOGICAL,
SEXUAL, FINANCIAL, OR EMOTIONAL ABUSE TOO. IF SOMEONE IS SUFFERING,
THEY NEED HELP AND KENT-BASED CHARITY, OASIS DOMESTIC ABUSE SERVICE,
ARE THERE TO DO JUST THAT. insideKENT SPOKE TO THEM ABOUT THEIR
INVALUABLE SERVICE.
What does Oasis do?
Oasis has been working with families blighted
by domestic abuse since 1994. We have 18
units of refuge, or safe house accommodation
across Thanet and Dover for women and
children who are at such high risk of harm
that they have had to flee their homes. We
also offer community outreach services to
men, women, children and young people to
help them address the impact of their
experiences, as well as to educate and inform.
This includes early intervention and
preventative work with young people in the
community who are already at risk of
becoming victims, or perpetrators of abuse in
their own intimate relationships and who may
have little understanding of what a healthy
relationship looks like.
Why is the work that Oasis does
so important?
The risk posed to our clients is real and serious.
Two women a week are murdered by a current
or former partner. Many, many more are
seriously injured and traumatised, their self-
esteem damaged and their future uncertain.
Domestic abuse is a serious criminal and
public health issue with one in four women
experiencing it in their lifetime.
Every year between 40 and 70 per cent of
Oasis refuge clients are children, all of whom
have witnessed domestic abuse and many of
whom will also have suffered it themselves –
a third of children witnessing domestic
violence also experience another form of
abuse. Children living with domestic violence
are at increased risk of behavioural problems
and emotional trauma in adult life and many
repeat referrals to our high-risk services are
young people with complex lifestyles, often
borne out of childhood issues of domestic
abuse.
Every child responds to witnessing abuse
differently and the children in our refuge suffer
in a variety of ways including nightmares,
bedwetting, over-attachment to their mother,
phobias and behavioural problems. It is vital
that they are offered specialist support if they
are to recover and if we are to break the cycles
of abuse that can last for generations
137