Project: Empower provides free and confidential legal advice and information and community advocacy to BME women of all ages.

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Our services are provided in safe women only space.

 

Our specialist solicitors cover the following areas of advice:

 

• Domestic violence and abuse

• Injunctions

• Divorce/Separation

• Issues about children

• Forced Marriage

• Female Genital Mutilation

• Other forms of harmful practices

• Immigration

• Housing

• Welfare Benefits and Debt

 

Ensuring women have safe access to their rights.

 

Project: Empower provides alternative legal remedies to privatised legal processes and their legitimising agents. This is a critical aspect of our advice work.

 

The term ‘privatised legal processes’ refers to approaches like Sharia courts which diminish legal capacity of BME women specifically in domestic violence cases, practices around female genital mutilation, use of religious frameworks to respond to women and children accused of witchcraft, and community-based responses addressing honour-based violence which ‘silence’ the survivors.

 

Examples of diminished capacity include lack of legal representation, lack of transparency and undocumented proceedings, and restrictions on divorce rights for women, custody of children and re-dress on domestic violence.

 

Specialist and Dedicated Services

 

Community Advocacy

 

Under the Community Advocacy Project, women in the community are trained as advocates on basic British law, human rights and domestic violence so they can reach out to other BME women with rights-based information. The newly-trained community advocates then talk to women in the community in need of legal advice about our services and signpost them to LBWP for more complex advice work in the AQS accredited areas of housing and women.

 

Capacity Building

 

Training programmes for professionals in the legal and human rights sector, social services, education, health and other sectors including on-line and interactive tools.

This project provides training on specialist legislation like the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 and corresponding legal guidance and the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 covering the criminalisation of Forced Marriage.

 

Through the project, we hope to develop a n ‘expert’ network to exchange legal information and good practice, sign post and refer women at risk, and continue capacity building of professionals.

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Contact Us

 

If you have a concern about domestic violence, or need to talk to someone or get information please contact us. We are here to help.

 

Where

London Black Women’s Project

661 Barking Road | London | E13 9EX

 

When

Wednesday’s from 9.30 to 11.30 and 12.30 to 1.30

Thursday’s from 2.00 to 4.00

 

Please contact us on 020 8472 0528 for further information and also to make an appointment.

 

We are here to discuss your legal rights with you.

 

We can offer safe access to support and information including referrals to appropriate services.

 

Ask our specialist solicitors about:

 

Please contact us on 020 8472 0528.