You Are Not Alone: Support for Women Facing Domestic Abuse or Feeling Unsafe in Portsmouth

This is a difficult topic to bring up, but an important one. Moving to a new country, often without your usual family and community around you, can make it much harder to recognise when a relationship or home situation has become unsafe — and even harder to know where to turn. If this applies to you, or to someone you know, please know this clearly: help is available, it is confidential, and using it will not get you in trouble.

If you are in immediate danger

Call 999. If you can't speak when the call connects, stay on the line — you'll hear an automated message asking you to press 55, tap the phone, or make a noise, and it will be transferred to the police. This is a real system (the "Silent Solution"), used across the UK specifically for people who can't speak safely. One honest limitation: pressing 55 does not reveal your location to the police, so give your address if you can do so safely at any point.

Portsmouth's dedicated domestic abuse support

Portsmouth City Council commissions Stop Domestic Abuse to run local support services, including refuge accommodation for women and children fleeing abuse.

Stop Domestic Abuse (Portsmouth) — 023 9206 5494, email portsmouthreferral@stopdomesticabuse.uk. They can talk through your situation and connect you to a refuge space, one-to-one support, or other help — even if you're not sure yet whether you want to leave. Contact them directly for current opening hours.

National Domestic Abuse Helpline (Refuge, 24/7, free) — 0808 2000 247. Always open, always confidential.

PARCS (Portsmouth Abuse and Rape Counselling Service) — helpline 0300 222 5735 (Mon 11am-2pm, Tue & Thu 4:30pm-8pm), office 023 9266 9513. Free counselling for anyone affected by sexual or domestic abuse in Portsmouth and South East Hampshire.

Support that understands South Asian and Bangladeshi context

Sometimes the hardest part isn't finding a helpline — it's finding one where you don't have to explain your entire culture and family situation from scratch before anyone understands what you're facing.

Southall Black Sisters — 020 8571 0800 (Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm). A specialist organisation supporting South Asian, Black, and minoritised women, in several community languages. They specifically advise on domestic abuse, forced marriage, immigration concerns (including fear that leaving an abusive situation will affect a visa), and "No Recourse to Public Funds" situations. Outside their hours, they direct people to the National Domestic Abuse Helpline above, or 999 in an emergency.

On the visa/immigration worry specifically: this is one of the most common reasons South Asian women stay silent, and it deserves a direct answer rather than a vague one — but it's also genuinely case-specific (it depends on your exact visa route, and whether you're the visa holder or a dependant). Please don't assume the worst and go silent because of it. Speak to Southall Black Sisters or the National Domestic Abuse Helpline first — they deal with this exact question daily and can point you to the right specialist immigration advice for your specific situation, free of charge.

Support through the University

If you're a University of Portsmouth student, the Student Wellbeing Service offers a free, 24/7 helpline for emotional and practical support on 0800 028 3766, or you can contact the service directly on 023 9284 3466. They aren't a specialist domestic abuse service, but they're a safe, confidential first point of contact who can listen and connect you onward to the right specialist support, including the services above.

SWAP is here too

We can't replace any of the professional support above, and we won't try to. But if it feels safer to talk to someone from your own community first — someone who'll listen without judgment, help you make that first phone call, come with you to an appointment, or just translate something that's hard to say in English — please reach out to us privately. You don't have to carry this alone, and you don't have to explain everything at once.