After a successful run of fundraising for Gendered Intelligence via our Pride Liner, you all helped to raise £4k. Do remember that 100% of profits made from our Pride Liner go towards LGBTQIA+ charities and we are so thrilled to be supporting another amazing cause.

Introducing Galop...

 

Galop is the UK’s LGBT+ anti-abuse charity. We work with and for LGBT+ victims and survivors of abuse and violence.

Galop works directly with thousands of LGBT+ people who have experienced abuse and violence every year. We specialise in supporting victims and survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence, hate crime, honour-based abuse, forced marriage, so-called conversion therapies, and other forms of interpersonal abuse. We are a service run by LGBT+ people, for LGBT+ people, and the needs of our community are at the centre of what we do.

We run four national support helplines for LGBT+ victims and survivors of: domestic abuse; hate crime; rape and sexual abuse; and so-called “conversion therapy”. We provide longer-term support to thousands of LGBT+ victims and survivors of abuse through our advocacy services. We are person-centred, empowerment-based, and trauma-informed – meaning our focus is always on helping our clients decide what is best for them, and then supporting them through their journey.

We use what we learn through working on the frontlines with clients to work on national and local policy change, to improve outcomes for LGBT+ victims and survivors of abuse and violence. We build evidence through key pieces of research around LGBT+ people’s experiences of abuse and violence. We push for legislative change, improved statutory guidance for victims, and better understanding of the needs of LGBT+ people around the country.

 

Our impact

Between April 2021 and March 2022, we with worked directly with thousands of LGBT+ victims and survivors of abuse, supported thousands more to know their rights and options, released key research, and worked with policy makers to improve outcomes for LGBT+ survivors of abuse and violence.

We are trauma-informed

​Our service understands what trauma is and how our brains and bodies react when faced with violence and abuse and its aftermath. We understand the impact of trauma on people’s lives and we validate survivors’ resistance and resilience in getting through in the best way they can.  

We work with survivors to find the right holistic and therapeutic services for them. We share information about trauma and provide in-depth listening and practical grounding to support survivors. 

We are empowerment-based

Our service is empowerment-based. This means our work aims to enable LGBT+ people to have choice and control over their lives. This is incredibly important for survivors when choice and control have been taken away from them.  

Empowerment is about seeing each person as a whole human being. It is about recognising that there are many aspects to someone’s identity and life experience, including sexual or romantic orientation and gender identity, and also your ethnicity, background, age etc.  Violence and abuse can have an impact on all aspects of someone’s identity. 

We are person-centred 

Our service is centred on the needs of the people we work with and is founded on the values of safety, respect, non-judgment, professionalism, and anti-discriminatory practice:

  • Safety is fundamental to our service. We hold survivors who may be experiencing distress or difficult times. We offer a warm individual service within clear boundaries.  
  • We believe that the working relationships we create with survivors are fundamental to the healing process.  
  • We respect and understand the many ways that LGBT+ people choose to live and express themselves.  
  • Our staff are trained, supported and supervised effectively. This includes ​​robust practices around case management, record keeping and safeguarding. We work to the highest standards of conduct about our behaviour and practice at all times​.  
  • LGBT+ people have intersecting identities and experiences of marginalisation and discrimination, for example related to race and ethnicity, faith, disability, age, and class.  We understand how the experiences of poverty, asylum-seeking, mental ill-health and other inequalities affect the risk and experience of violence and abuse.  

In crisis?

If you are in a physical or mental health crisis, or your reason for contacting us gets more concerning, please call 111 or 999 accordingly to get support or medical assistance. Or contact Samaritans on 116 123.

Our 'In a Crisis' page has details of other support lines you can contact.

  • Samaritans 116 123
  • Domestic Violence Hotline 0808 2000 247 
  • Switchboard LGBT+ helpline 0300 330 0630
  • LGBT Domestic Violence Helpline 0300 999 5428 or help@galop.org.uk
  • The Survivors Trust 0808 801 0181
  • Mind 0300 123 3393
  • Mindline Trans+ 0300 330 5468
  • Age UK 0800 169 6565
  • Childline 0800 1111

 

By Natalie Chapple 

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