The relationship between violence against women and girls and sport is complicated. This is in large part due to research that has found that incidents of domestic violence soar each time England men’s football team play – up by 38 per cent when the team loses and by 26 per cent when they win.

More than 60 reports of domestic violence were made to police after England lost in the 2018 World Cup semi-final. Warnings and campaigns were rolled out before the tournament and yet the number of reported incidents per match was significantly higher than the 2016 Euros when the highest figure after a match was 24 reported incidents. 

Whether this shows an increase in violence towards women and girls, more people reporting it or better recording by the police, it is impossible to know. But if sport can be a trigger, it is also being pioneered as a means of support for survivors. 

How sport makes a difference

It is undoubtedly a cliché to talk about how doing exercise creates endorphins which can make you feel happier, but it does. The NHS, for example, cites research suggesting that exercise might be as effective as antidepressants at reducing symptoms of depression.

On their website, they write: “Being physically active can lift your mood, reduce stress and anxiety, encourage the release of endorphins (your body’s feel-good chemicals and improve self-esteem.” Some doctors believe so strongly in the power of exercise that they have started prescribing Parkrun to patients.

This is one of the reasons why support organisations for survivors of domestic abuse and violence are starting to investigate how sport can help the women and families they work with. Hestia works across London providing refuges for survivors of domestic abuse and modern slavery. A year ago, they started their Family Fitness Programme for women and children living in their refuges.

Funded by Sport England, they run activities ranging from skateboarding to a summer-holiday getaway to the New Forest. Everything they organise is informed by what the women and their children would like – most recently that is swimming lessons. The sessions revolve around activities for the children, but the Mums are also encouraged to join. The warmup is obligatory for everyone.

Abigail Ampofo, the Director of Operations at Hestia, explains that the programme came about as a way of facilitating quality family time, something often in short supply due to the difficult circumstances the families are in. The team settled on sport for two reasons: “One is the actual physical benefits of sports and activities, that it releases endorphins while you're doing it. And two it was something that the mums and children can do together, so it is helping that family bond.”


Why exercising is challenging

While it is easy to take sport and exercise for granted, for the families in Hestia’s refuges many factors prevent them from being active. To make sure the programme truly served the families, Ampofo says the team did a consultation first. They identified a range of barriers, from concerns about childcare to having the right clothing and affordability. As a result, the team worked hard to remove them. They provide equipment and host many of the activities in the refuges, so taking part is easier.

“To have all three of my children involved in something active – something they couldn’t previously do – has meant a lot to me.”

Jasmine*, 33, is one of the Mums who took part in Hestia’s programme. Her experience confirms how this family-first approach helped. She recalls: “At first, I wasn’t so sure and left it to my three children, Alby, Anna and Kelly. The girls have been obsessed with gymnastics for a while now, so it was really beneficial to get them involved in something they love while we were in quite a turbulent period.” 

Jasmine describes how the programme was even tailored to her son, Alby, who has additional needs that have prevented him taking part in sports in the past: “To have all three of my children involved in something active – something they couldn’t previously do – has meant a lot to me.”

Another reason why Hestia settled on sport is the fact that you can see yourself improve. Ampofo explains: “It's something that when you practice you can get better at, so there's that sense of accomplishment. And looking at different types of sport can also be a great leveller.” It makes sense, after all, everyone can catch a ball and if you’re all trying something new then it’s a challenge for everyone, young or old, active or inactive.

This is what drew Jasmine in. She explains that when it came to taking part herself, she was initially reluctant, joining in with just the warm-ups. As her children taught her what they learnt each week, things changed: “The more I got the hang of it, the more excited they became and the more my confidence grew. I ended up taking part in every session, from start to finish.”

Ampofo says that it’s been great for giving the families some escapism from the traumatic events they are living through: “There's normality to it – if I'm having a cup of tea I may chat to my friends about my awful aborted attempt at running.” 

The programme is open to all the families in their refuges and who are part of their outreach services. Their aim, says Ampofo, is “to instil some of the habits for people, so that they do continue exercising or doing sports with their family once they leave”.

For Jasmine, her experience aligned with the programme’s aims. She says the designated family time, with no phones in sight, has “enabled us to bond. It’s given us something to focus on, something to enjoy, in an otherwise difficult situation for us all”.

It wasn’t just her family who she felt connected to, Jasmine found it helped her develop relationships with other mums in the programme: “It became a real bonding exercise for all of us, a time to connect. It’s been an escape for all of us, I think.”

Jasmine and her family still return to take part in sessions, even though they have now left the refuge. She says taking part in the sports activities has “prevented us from feeling alone because we know we can still come along, meet the friends we’ve made through the project and have that time as a family”.


Giving survivors time for themselves

Sport isn’t only being used to support families as they create new lives and process their experiences. Another organisation pioneering sport for survivors is the leisure centre management company, Fusion Lifestyle. The company partnered with Enfield Council to reinvest profits from leisure centres in the borough into a programme providing exercise classes for women who are survivors of domestic violence.

They created a programme called Women Time. Women were referred by support organisations such as Solace Women’s Aid and could attend three different classes a week including yoga, salsa and combat fitness. The programmes lasted 12 weeks, after which the women could join their local leisure centre for free if they wished.

Like Hestia, they tried to eliminate the barriers that might stop participants from being active. The classes were free, travel was paid for and the programme designed to ensure that the women felt safe enough to attend the classes. 

Gareth Heard, the Sport and Community Development Manager for North London oversaw the programme. He explains that creating a safe environment was essential as for some of the women, their experiences closed off traditional forms of exercise: “For some people just going for a walk or going for a run isn't possible because of what they've been through.”

Communicating with participants was one of the biggest challenges the team encountered. With the need for discretion for women who were still in vulnerable living situations, they couldn't just text or call their home numbers. Heard recalls: “Some were very open to giving their details, some were very closed and a lot of the communication had to be done through the organisations.”

Building trust took time but eventually the women attending started to bring along others in similar situations to the classes. In fact, by the time the programme ended, many of the attendees had heard about the programme through previous attendees.

Similarly to Hestia, the classes were designed to give the women time for themselves. Heard describes it as giving them “60 minutes away from issues and thinking about how it's going to impact the kids, how it impacts them and how it will be going home and having to deal with everything”. 

The programme wasn’t designed to facilitate counselling or take away from other services already providing support, it was envisioned to compliment them. Heard explains that the women were free to engage with the others in the class as little or as much as they wanted to. The key was to be as flexible as possible so that all the attendees felt comfortable: “I'm sure some women there engaged more than others. Some women probably just came to exercise and then went and got back on with their normal lives.”

“Was it scary? Yes. Did my anxiety go through the roof? Yes, but I had to make a change and it has been one of the best things I have ever done.”

Having that shared life experience was what made the classes feel like a safe space. Heard shares the words of one participant who fed back to the programme: “Being in an all-female environment gave me the empowerment and support that I needed to face my fears and the darkness that has consumed me for so long. The pain I feel is good pain and I know that I am working towards making myself a better person and helping my fellow trainees have support and encouragement to continue each week.”

For her, it was the first time she had started doing something just to make a change for herself. She writes: “Was it scary? Yes. Did my anxiety go through the roof? Yes, but I had to make a change and it has been one of the best things I have ever done.” 

In her feedback, she also praises the instructor for making her feel confident. Fusion Leisure worked with experienced female instructors to run the classes and one was a survivor herself. The team still receive Whatsapp messages asking if they will be running classes again.

Heard wanted the classes to form part of a circular support network: “What we wanted to do is be a pathway that organizations could send people to, to see if physical activity could make a difference to them and to then see how they could engage better with the organisations themselves.”

This is what sport should be, restorative, not a trigger for further trauma.

Women Time only had funding to run for a year, but that’s not stopping Heard from looking for more. He wants to roll the programme out across the rest of London in partnership with Solace Women's Aid. Many of the women didn’t want to transition into regular gym-going, preferring the safe environment the programme created.

That's why we need more projects like this, not less. As Heard reflects: “Even if it just helps a couple of women then it's worth doing.”

*Names have been changed