Our History
2009
Safety4Sisters was founded in Manchester by feminist VAWG activists Vicky Marsh and Kate Cook as a networking and campaigning group. From the outset, Safety4Sisters challenged the denial of safety, protection and human rights faced by migrant women experiencing domestic abuse, particularly those with no recourse to public funds (NRPF). 2016
Published the Migrant Women’s Right to Safety Pilot Project report, documenting migrant women’s lived experiences and setting out recommendations to address systemic injustice.2018
Delivered the first Safety4Sisters women’s residential, in partnership with The Angelou Centre, at Hadrian’s Wall hostel.2021
Safety4Sisters worked in a three-year national campaigning partnership with Southall Black Sisters and Latin American Women’s Rights Service, lobbying Parliament for the inclusion of migrant women in the Domestic Abuse Act. The campaign was rooted in women’s lived experiences and survivor leadership. From 2021 onwards, through the NRPF Pilot Project, in partnership nationally with Southall Black Sisters and locally with Greater Manchester Independent Choices, Safety4Sisters funded emergency accommodation and subsistence for migrant women who were destitute and homeless. During this period, Safety4Sisters’ team and volunteer base expanded, strengthening our advocacy, campaigning and group work. 2023
In January, Safety4Sisters established the Women’s Council, creating a structured space for women’s representation and leadership within the organisation. In March, Jasmine Mohammad was appointed Director, bringing extensive strategic and grassroots experience from The Angelou Centre, Newcastle. 2025 onwards
Safety4Sisters continues to campaign at a national level, using its frontline expertise, survivor-led evidence and partnerships to drive strategic change in policy and practice. The organisation maintainsa strong and influential position in advocating for migrant women’s rights, challenging the harms of NRPF, and pushing for systems that place safety before immigration status.2014
Safety4Sisters developed a small advocacy and advice service, emerging from WAST advice sessions run by Vicky Marsh, alongside specialist group work developed by Sandhya Sharma. 2017
Safety4Sisters received the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Ending Male Violence Against Women.2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, Safety4Sisters opened Abonish House, the first refuge in England for migrant women with NRPF.
Halla Akhtar, an experienced international women’s rights worker and refugee from Syria, played a central role in establishing the refuge and developing Safety4Sisters’ group work. In December 2020, Safety4Sisters published its COVID report, supported by trustees Lucy Mort and Becky Clarke, ensuring migrant women’s voices were heard during the pandemic. Between 2020–2021, Safety4Sisters established the Migrant Women’s Writing Group, led by Sandhya Sharma with writer Amber Lone. In October 2020, with a strong and committed trustee board, Safety4Sisters attained charitable status. 2022
In March, Safety4Sisters launched This Is We, its first book — an anthology written by women in the Safety4Sisters writing group. In July, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Nicole Jacobs, visited Abonish House to hear directly from women about the human rights impact of NRPF. Safety4Sisters was represented in Parliament at the launch of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report Safety Before Status: The Solutions, where Colombe Irakoze delivered a powerful speech to MPs and senior VAWG stakeholders, sharing her experiences and recommendations as a survivor. In September, Safety4Sisters gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on migrant women and NRPF. In October, Safety4Sisters moved offices to the Zion Centre, Hulme. In December, Safety4Sisters delivered its second residential, bringing together women, children, staff and trustees in the Lake District. 2024
Safety4Sisters continued national work on Safe Reporting and NRPF, alongside Southall Black Sisters and the Migrant Victims group. In May, Safety4Sisters lost Ezinne Emee, a deeply respected, vibrant and much-loved advocate whose commitment to migrant women and girls, courage and compassion left a lasting legacy within Safety4Sisters and the wider VAWG movement. In August, Safety4Sisters workers and group members joined migrant justice organisations to protest the Government’s Rwanda asylum policy. In October, Safety4Sisters launched its second book, This Is Me, written by women in the Safety4Sisters writing group, led by Halla Akhtar with Amber Lone.