Law in the making

Nobody understands the impact of domestic abuse better than survivors. As experts by their experience, their voices should be central in defining legislation and setting policies.

What is Law In The Making?

Law in the Making is an award winning project seeking to ensure survivors’ voices are at the heart of policy decision-making.  In 2019/20, we worked with 20 survivors in a series of educational workshops on legislation and campaigning, and engagement sessions with MPs and Members of the House of Lords in relation to the Domestic abuse bill.

On 23rd October 2019 a group of survivors from the Law In The Making project delivered their priorities for a domestic abuse bill to MPs at an event in parliament. The experts by experience briefing was developed over nine months as part of a ground breaking project, led by Women’s Aid, to ensure that survivors’ voices are at the heart of policy decision-making. At the event, members of the group spoke alongside parliamentarians, and were joined by the Designate Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Nicole Jacobs.


Download Law in the Making briefing (PDF)

“We do not want to see more women and children go through what we did, and our experiences have given us expertise in knowing what needs to change and our voices need to be heard”.

A survivor of domestic abuse who is part of the Law in the Making project

This group of experts by experience continue to advocate for the recommendations put forward in their briefing, and are working closely with Women’s Aid in their lobbying work as domestic abuse bill continues its journey through parliament and into law.

Our Approach

Read more about our approach to the project in Women’s Aid SAFE Journal Issue 69 (page 22), and our blog for Nesta’s pioneering democracy series.

We were delighted to be awarded Nesta’s Pioneering Democracy award, and shortlisted for the Sheila McKechnie National Campaigner Awards – Amplifying Unheard Voices category – for the Law in the Making project.

We are committed to embedding this approach to meaningful survivor engagement in all areas of our policy and campaign work.

This project is funded by the Legal Education Foundation, until May 2020, and Women’s Aid is seeking further funding.

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