Thank you to all who participated in and contributed to our creative workshops this summer. Your willingness to share with us your true experiences of Domestic Abuse has enabled us to continue our project and develop a new production to share your stories.
‘Make do and Mend’ is a piece of verbatim theatre portraying the candid stories of three women brought together to by a love of knitting and invites an audience into their lives and bodies to reflect on their different but equally compelling journeys though childhood, motherhood and marriage.
Their experiences of Domestic Violence call attention to the complex patterns of emotional, physical, sexual, and financial abuse that can be experienced and emphasise just how important the new domestic laws coming into force later this year are in recognising emotional abuse.
The government will now criminalise the patterns of coercive, controlling, and psychologically abusive behaviour which lie at the heart of the abuse so many women experience; leading to feelings of helplessness, isolation and can restrict a person’s personal and financial freedom .
In an interview for BBC’s Newsbeat last year Polly Neat, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, said: “We hope this new law will lead to a real culture change, so that every woman experiencing control can get the support she needs to break free safely.” Our Women’s Voices Project team will be travelling to Brussels this November to perform our new piece ‘Make Do and Mend’ in European Parliament on the eve of The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
We hope to be able to continue to raise awareness and contribute to making positive changes within communities, health care professional and the social sector with a tour of ‘Make do and Mend’ next year.
thewomensvoicesproject 