Abianda is a charity that works with young women and girls affected by criminal exploitation and violence and provides training for the professionals who work with them.
We provide direct services for young women and girls aged up to 25 and training for professionals who work with them. We set up Abianda to address the gap in services for young women affected by 'gangs' and to change the way services are delivered to them, so we can more effectively respond to their needs. We do this through our unique model of practice – we address the barriers that stop young women from seeking help & work alongside them to design & deliver our services.
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​"I feel like I am living now, I can breathe."
- Young woman's feedback​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
When we speak about criminal exploitation, we are referring to a type of abuse where children and young people are manipulated, forced and/or coerced into committing crimes. We also often refer to 'county lines' in our work. County lines is the police term for criminal groups exploiting young people into moving drugs from one place, usually a big city, to another place. You can read more about criminal exploitation and county lines here.
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Abianda is proud to support our valued partner Ben Kinsella Trust's Knife Crime Awareness Week. We also recognise there is much work to be done to understand young women and girls' narratives and experiences in the context of the knife crime agenda. The current conversations can often miss young women. Abianda would like to you to consider - what are young women's experiences /'roles' in relation to this? Are they observing, facilitating, providing care or mental health support in communities? Safeguarding young people is everyone's responsibility, and together, we can support all young people, including young women and girls, to feel safe in their communities.
Abianda welcomes all women to our services and to work with us. For the avoidance of all doubt, this includes trans women. We also welcome non-binary people if they feel that they have lived experience that aligns with that of women and girls.
Working with young women and girls affected by
criminal exploitation and violence