Showcasing our membership: Yasmin Rehman at Juno Women's Aid

In this blog series, WRC is interviewing our members across the country to share their amazing work and their views on the biggest challenges facing our sector and what we need to do about it. The series aims to provoke discussion, so if you have any comments on any of the issues raised in this blog post, please email our Head of Policy at [email protected] 

This month, we interviewed Yasmin from Juno Women’s Aid about her vision for the future of domestic violence services in Nottingham, and what the sector needs to do to combat the looming funding cliff-edge. 

“I think we've got to start getting together. Taking charge of our own destinies. And create the thing that we want to see.” 

Background and history 

Yasmin Rehman has worked in the women’s sector for almost 40 years. When she joined Juno Women’s Aid in November 2018, she joined an organisation with a long history. It was initially founded in 1979 as a refuge for women survivors of male violence seeking a safe haven. Since then, it has evolved into the largest commissioned service in Nottinghamshire and one of the largest in England. In 2019, the organisation was rebranded as Juno, employing around 102 staff members with a turnover of approximately £3.5 million.  

Ethos and inclusion 

Yasmin, as one of a minority of non-white leaders in a mainstream women's organisation, was keen to highlight Juno's commitment to diversity and equality. Unusually, over half of the senior management team is comprised of women of colour, reflecting Juno's dedication to serving all communities, including disabled women, Black and minoritised women, lesbian, bisexual, trans and non-binary individuals. 

Juno uses a model whereby, if a woman gets referred to the service, they get assigned a support worker who stays with them irrespective of their risk level changing.  

“It was what survivors said they wanted. They got fed up with repeating their stories. But it was also to stop women falling through the cracks as they were referred from the high-risk team to the medium-risk team. It enables women to build up that relationship of trust with a support worker. I mean, the arrogance of people who think that a woman experiencing abuse will just tell you everything is just outrageous. I mean, would you or I do that to someone we didn't know? Of course we wouldn't...We feel like this tiny island in this massive ocean. And we're pushing against everything.” 

“It's all about risk management these days. It's all about checklists, you know? When women disclose something, they’ve often said, 'You're more interested in the tick boxes than you are in me.' That should shame all of us.” 

Services and Innovation 

Juno offers a wide range of services, including specialist refuges, support for women with no recourse to public funds, children and young people services, and a 24/7 helpline. They also pioneered a pet fostering project. Yasmin emphasised the significant work being done outside of London, where much of the attention seems to be focused. 

“It’s so London-centric. And, actually, there is all this amazing work that goes on outside of the capital. But we never get heard. We never get seen. We don't even get a seat at the table, because we can't make it to meetings. Do I go to a meeting in London, or do I use that money for my service? It's gonna be, ‘I'll use that money within my service.’ And that's from someone who worked in London for decades. But I'm not a Londoner. I come from the Northeast. I feel more and more strongly about this the older I get. Because we've got to. We've got to start lifting our heads and looking at what's going on elsewhere.” 

Challenges and Resilience 

The women’s sector has changed profoundly since the early days of DIY refuges. The growth of specialist services in the ‘80s and ‘90s, when grants were easier to come by, has been curtailed by the effects of austerity and commissioning. Yasmin reflected on the closure of Roshni, a local, specialist, domestic abuse service for South Asian women, in 2013.  

“I think we're partly responsible for the loss of some of those [specialist] services, but not by our own doing, by decisions made by others. And I think that's the case in other areas that I've worked in as well, where it's not necessarily a big, bad mainstream organisation that comes along. In some instances, it is. And I'm not gonna deny that that predatory behaviour happens. But I certainly don't think that was the case up here... It’s important to acknowledge our history; that we stand on the shoulders of other women who came before us.”  

She attributed Juno's survival to effective engagement in the commissioning process and the ability to adapt to the new funding landscape. Post-COVID, the sector has seen huge growth in demand for VAWG services, yet Yasmin stressed the importance of learning from past decisions to avoid repeating mistakes. 

Diversifying Income, Social Investment  

Yasmin expressed deep concern about the future, particularly with impending funding cuts. The ability to think ahead and plan strategically requires foresight, risk, vision and resources. Juno's strategy was to secure £3 million in social investment to buy 18 properties to use as move-on accommodation (with another nine in the pipeline). Importantly, they’ve bought these in areas where they themselves would want to live, places that are safe and nice for children to grow up. By doing this, Juno can offer long-term housing for women and children to rebuild their lives post-refuge. The investment is structured to be repaid over ten years, with Juno having the option to buy back properties at 85% of their market value. This strategy is designed to ensure long-term sustainability and ownership. By securing social investment, Juno is less reliant on volatile local authority funding. This financial autonomy enables Juno to plan long-term, continue to provide essential services, even amidst funding cuts, and maintain its commitment to its core values and mission – something that has arguably been lost in the drive towards expansion and professionalisation of the sector.  

“We've gone with ‘Safe and Sustainable Capital’. It took me four years to get my Board to agree to this, and I’m glad we did as we try to preempt the cliff-edge in funding we will experience in March 2025. I felt really strongly that we needed to take this step because almost all of our funding came from commissioning through the local authority, or through central government, and that placed us at great risk. It also meant that what you do, what you deliver, is not driven by us but by others... Our space for action was becoming more and more limited, that space for innovation and independence, and wanting to do things differently, not just because we thought it needs to be different, but because that was what survivors were saying.” 

Yasmin talked about her vision for a network of feminist housing associations that understand and support the unique needs of women and children as they try and rebuild their lives after domestic abuse. These buildings are about more than just housing; they’re about creating supportive networks and opportunities for women to rebuild their lives after trauma, something that differentiates the women’s sector from just being ‘service providers’. 

“Becoming so focused on the day-to-day and survival, we've lost sight of everything else. And whilst we've turned away from everything else that's happening, we've become service providers, rather than a movement. We've got to reclaim the movement. We have to because, well, we owe it to our daughters and granddaughters. We really do.” 

However, this funding to buy buildings does not protect the other teams working at Juno. A long-term solution is still needed to keep all parts of the service going. When asked what she thought this solution could be, Yasmin said: 

“I'm a massive fan of the Forever Fund. I think we need a centralised pot of money. How that money would be divided up, how much would go to different areas, I don't know. But I think that's a conversation we, as the women’s movement, need to be having. Small organisations, big organisations. And we're gonna have to have some really uncomfortable conversations with people that we don't like. And we don't agree with. But until we are prepared to get into a room and to listen to each other, then we're not gonna get there...” 

Corporate Partnerships and Collaboration 

Juno has also developed corporate partnerships to support its mission. Engaging with local businesses and institutions like colleges helps raise awareness of VAWG and is essential to integrate survivors into the community, offering access to education, employment, and other resources. 

Juno also proposed easing some of the burdens of monitoring and administrative backroom functions that all commissioned organisations have to comply with.  

“Organisations like ours have very similar templates, so instead of us all having our own teams or outsourcing, which becomes incredibly expensive, why not try and pool that?” 

Whether this works in practice remains to be seen but thinking outside the box on these kinds of issues, encouraging local collaboration and being able to experiment seems a crucial aspect of getting out of this funding crisis together.  

Final thoughts 

Yasmin wanted to end by reiterating her point about the women’s sector’s responsibility in making change happen.  

“Following on from my comment about uncomfortable conversations...If we don't start to sit around a table, get into the same room with people we don't necessarily agree with or aren't comfortable with, and if we’re not prepared to give up some of our power, we won’t get what we want. We talk about power and control in terms of abuse. But actually, how much power are we holding onto ourselves? And that's not just in relation to race, vitally and critically important as that is. But in terms of us as organisations. Where is the power? How are we holding it? Is it the right thing to hold that power? What can we relinquish in the best interests of actually taking the movement forward? Because the backlash against feminism is here. It's real. It's been documented for decades now. You've just got to look across at what's happening in the States, and the rise of the far right here, and if we are not careful, we will not be here. So, we've got to get over ourselves. We've got to park the egos, and every single one of us has got one to some degree, I'm sure I have too! But unless we do that, we will fold. And rebuilding will take decades. So, let's do it now rather than waiting!”