Celebrating women’s achievements
Appropriately for International Women’s Day, today I have been at workshop informing the women-specific version of our Financial Analysis Model.
The model shows the cost to the public purse by government department when people get caught in a cycle of high levels of drug and/or alcohol use, frequent contact with the police and going in and out of prison. It then shows how much each government department can save when holistic support is provided at various points of the criminal justice system.
The initial version is non-gender specific, but we were aware that women often have different experiences and use services differently and were keen to reflect this in the model. With the support of the Corston Independent Funders’ Coalition we are now working to develop a women-specific version.
Our Financial Analysis Model is based on nine different stages of people’s lives. Each stage represents different personal situations and patterns of service use. The model maps different journeys through the stages and the impact these have on public costs.
Today, we were at Alana House women’s centre in Reading testing out stages we have developed for the women-specific version.
International Women’s Day celebrates women’s economic, political and social achievements around the world.
The workshop opened with a discussion of what participants felt they had achieved recently. Participants’ responses included finishing a drug rehabilitation requirement, getting housing problems sorted and starting peer mentoring. At a workshop in London last week achievements included spending more time with my children, starting to keep appointments and take everything more seriously, and confronting my debt and mental health issues.
Compared to famous women’s achievements that may be being celebrated around the world today, these victories may seem small. But to these women they are life changing. Their achievements are steps towards breaking free from destructive cycles they have been caught in, some for many years. It is these achievements which I celebrate today.
At the workshop we spent some time exploring what had helped these women to make these achievements. No doubt people have to be ready to change. But when they are, it is clear from our work that having someone on your side who will listen, understand and respect you is essential. Projects like Alana House and other women’s centres offer this, and support women to access a range of other services which can address specific problems such as drug or alcohol use, domestic violence or legal issues.
So on International Women’s Day I am not only celebrating the achievements of the women I met today, but also those of Alana House and other women’s centres across the country.
