THEATRE VERSUS OPPRESSION
Registered Charity SC039092
Using applied theatre to bring about positive change and development

Domestic Violence Project

TVO Domestic Violence Project is envisaged as a multi-faceted project that looks at domestic violence from various points of view: the victim, the abuser and the ‘bystander’ victims. Each group is worked with separately in phase one of the project. It is entirely confidential.

We are currently looking for volunteers (principally in South Wales though not limited to this location) who would be interested in working with us for a series of workshops on the issue of domestic abuse. Volunteers would be people who have or currently are suffering from domestic violence. We would like to carry out the workshops in a group of 10-15 women and a separate group of men. The workshops are free and will be in 3 hour blocks designed to fit in with people's schedules. The aim is to empower participants, working in a safe and confidential environment.

We are happy to run a taster session as a starting point so that people can feel comfortable and get to see what it is all about

For further information please see 'Til Death Do Us Part' and contact
theatreversusoppression@gmail.com

Theatre versus Oppression tackles issues through a mixture of creative work, the arts and therapy based approaches. Domestic abuse affects the population directly and indirectly, costing us in both human and economic terms through the health system, prison and social services. Those affected are ticking time bombs in terms of when and how the effect of this exposure will surface. We aim to address the issue providing tools to deal with violence and violent tendencies. Currently projects, support groups and facilities are in place to deal with the symptoms of domestic violence. By treating symptoms escalation can be decreased but causes remain, as does long-term effects. Our work looks at the causes of domestic violence and long-term prevention. We approach the issue from a neutral standpoint to enhance understanding of each group (victims, abusers, bystander victims). In our work the standpoint is that we all contain elements of the oppressed and oppressor; understanding how we play both parts helps us understand both ourselves and our situation. This leads to empowerment of those affected by domestic violence directly and indirectly, as well as greater understanding of behaviour and alternative ways to approach triggers to such violence and abuse.

The Equality Bill due out in Autumn 2010 means every local authority must provide services to both men and women according to need. A separate service for each - not a generic one. Based on 2007-2008 statistics 89% of those who suffer sustained violence are women; 44% of all female homicide victims were killed by a current or former partner compared to 6% male victims; 1 in 4 women experience domestic violence in their lifetime with 500,000 estimated cases per year in Britain (only 7,000 ending in criminal prosecutions). Current measures are dealing with symptoms as opposed to prevention. Evidence shows a circle of violence where children statistically often become abusers without any real understanding of why/how this has happened. While services have improved they are still lacking with domestic violence costing the criminal Justice system around £1billion, the NHS £1.2billion and mental health £176million a year. Our approach offers a long-term impact. While improved services have helped reduce some of the symptoms, or created better more efficient ways of dealing with the symptoms, the underlying causes remain and so the violence continues.

Domestic abuse/violence is a worldwide problem. The work involved in dealing with symptoms is overwhelming (the Welsh domestic abuse helpline alone deals with an estimated 14,000 calls per year). Looking at causes has been neglected due to time/financial constraints, and the immediate necessity of dealing with the resulting fall out. This takes priority over trying to prevent the abuse happening in the first place. The social problem continues because the underlying issues have not been addressed, so while attempts are being made to ensure the safety of victims, work has not been done on the all those affected including abusers, victims and bystander victims. Abusers remain none the wiser about how their behaviour could change or of the circle of violence they are creating.

Our proposed way of working would be difficult for the agencies engaged in the frontline of domestic abuse as our focus is all encompassing. These agencies are created to deal with targeted groups at one end of the spectrum of the problem, their function is to deal with the consequences and limit the damage created by this. Our proposed way of working looks at causes and all groups involved in the spectrum of domestic violence.

We offer a combined approach utilising the arts, discussions, panel work, therapy, counselling and workshops. We work with methodology of counselling, therapy and applied theatre methods to gain a greater understanding of oppression and approaches to it. We work with concepts of oppression and the three levels of how it affects an individual: how we are oppressed by others, how we oppress others and how we oppress ourselves. Through these methods we promote a greater understanding of the self and our behaviour; a sense of responsibility for our roles as oppressed and oppressor; and through these understandings, promote empowerment.