A Way Out's Liberty project delivers an outreach, engagement and recovery service to sexually exploited women involved in opportunistic and survival sex work on the streets. This includes the provision of late night outreach work on the streets of Stockton-on-Tees; 1-to-1 care-planned support to address needs holistically; practical support with access to sexual health, harm minimisation and specialist independent sexual violence advice (ISVA) services; availability of food parcels, shower and laundry facilities; individual counselling & group therapeutic programmes to address personal trauma and unresolved needs/issues and life-skills& healthy living courses.
The long-term, holistic work A Way Out delivers makes a significant impact in reducing the harm experienced by women who face sexual exploitation; improves the physical and emotional well-being of women by providing access to health, recovery and support services; increases their chances of achieving social functioning and employability; helps in the reduction of dependence on illicit drugs, the reduction of involvement in offending and increases the likelihood of recovering from/exiting sex work over time
A Way Out has a strong focus, based on Christian values, of delivering love, hope and freedom to women at risk of harm and exploitation. The organisation has a dedicated board of trustees, senior management team, project staff and team of volunteers. To meet our objectives, we:
Have a robust strategy for income generation
Build on our existing positive stakeholder relationships (e.g. NE Women’s Network etc.) to develop a greater understanding of the needs of our beneficiaries and of areas of unmet need
Use every opportunity, in conjunction with our beneficiaries, to promote the findings of our peer research on the lived experiences of those involved in sex work (on and off street), particularly to Public Health, Police & Crime commissioners etc..
Support beneficiaries to challenge commissioners to address inequalities within the support system and to feed in local intelligence on the specific needs of women to strategic needs assessments
Continue to shape the NE Violence Against Women & Girls Strategy, Stockton's JSNA, its Health & Well-being Strategy, the local Community Safety Strategy and Policing Plan
