21st February 2025
Arts & Crafts with Kent College, Canterbury
We were delighted to receive boxes of arts and crafts materials, collected for us by…
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In January, Rising Sun team members were invited to take part in a key SafeLives training programme, delivering Domestic Abuse Matters training to police first responders in Kent.
Three staff members from Rising Sun have been involved in this project, partnering with SafeLives and with local police services to deliver training on domestic abuse to first responders. DA Matters training is being rolled out across England and Wales as part of a wider campaign to radically change police culture and response to domestic abuse. 41 police stations nationwide have completed the training and, as the local expert provider of domestic abuse support, Rising Sun were invited to deliver this for local Kent Police.
Rising Sun frontline team members delivered three sessions to first responders, helping to equip them with improved knowledge and experience, and changing attitudes to domestic abuse.
The DA Matters training explores the complexities and nuances of domestic abuse, centring around controlling and coercive behaviour, victim blaming, and perpetrator manipulation and tactics. Not only were the Rising Sun team able to share their expert subject knowledge, a key part of the programme involved identifying DA Matters Champions. Additional training was delivered by our Service Manager for these officers, who are now equipped with the skills to deliver this training to each new intake of first responders, as well as become a ‘go-to’ for domestic abuse issues within their station. Rising Sun will continue to work alongside Kent Police during the rollout of the training to all first responders, helping ensure the voice of survivors is at the centre of the programme.
Emma, Rising Sun’s Adult Services Manager, said that the training “reflects a shared commitment to permanently ending domestic abuse for everyone”, through bringing about “real, sustainable changes that will significantly enhance police practices and the support provided to domestic abuse victims”.
Rising Sun aims to end domestic abuse for everyone. Projects like these, which work to create cultural and practical change, help us to achieve this aim. We will continue to work alongside Kent Police to share our expertise, advocate for survivors, and improve the responses to domestic abuse in our community.
