About Scottish Women’s Aid
Scottish Women’s Aid (SWA) is the lead organisation working to end domestic abuse in Scotland.
We are both a women’s rights and a children’s rights organisation, working to transform and improve responses to domestic abuse and tackle the inequalities that enable it.
To achieve this, we campaign for change, deliver training, raise awareness, oversee Scotland’s 24-Hour Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline, and support a network of over 30 specialist local Women’s Aid services across Scotland.
We have set our sights on a Scotland with no domestic abuse – nothing less. How we get there and what we do over the next five years to shift power and practice, and make change real for women and children in Scotland, is detailed in the SWA Strategy 2025 – 2030.
A Scotland with no domestic abuse is our mission.
A Scotland where women, young people, and children enjoy all their human rights and have equal opportunity to explore all their ambitions and aspirations.
Scottish Women’s Aid has been at the forefront of shaping responses to domestic abuse in Scotland. We are proud of the work that we do with a wide range of partners to achieve change here in Scotland, across the UK and internationally. We work with police and prosecutors, politicians, the children’s sector, other agencies and the public in Scotland.
Scottish Women’s Aid works to end domestic abuse by:
Challenging the cause of domestic abuse: systemic misogyny and patriarchy in Scottish institutions, as well as policies, practices and understandings that continue to oppress women and children and curtail their freedom.
Supporting and advocating for women and children in the 30+ local Women’s Aid services that work every day with survivors of domestic abuse in Scotland.
Working side by side with survivors and supporting them in making change, including working with our Survivor Reference Group.
Challenging governments, local and national policy makers, and other national stakeholders to respond boldly and competently to the problem of domestic abuse in Scotland.
Challenging the pillars of women’s and children’s inequality: poverty of rights, autonomy, resources, and power; and making all women and children visible by embedding intersectional gender competence into everything we do.
Provision of the highest-quality, gender and domestic abuse competent workforce development that upskills every tier of the workforce, all embedded in an implementation approach.
Advocating for a stable and sustainable funding model for specialist DA services is the foundation for ending all forms of DA.
We oversee Scotland’s 24-Hour Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline to ensure help is always available to anyone affected by domestic abuse.
Scottish Women’s Aid and the Women’s Aid Network – a history of advocacy
In 2026, Scottish Women’s Aid celebrated 50 years of supporting and advocating for the Women’s Aid network.
Scottish Women’s Aid was set up in 1976 by the then 7 (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire) local Women’s Aid groups to provide support, make the network bigger and increase the number of refuges available for women and children experiencing domestic abuse.
Today, Scottish Women’s Aid is the national office of the Women’s Aid network, and our national work continues to be rooted in the local work to support women, children and young people with experience of domestic abuse. The network now consists of 30+ independent local Women’s Aid local charities that provide high-quality specialist services and commit each year to a shared set of principles.
Being a member organisation makes Scottish Women’s Aid strong – we work to maintain a mutually supportive, listening, and learning network – recognising and celebrating the expertise of our members.
Want to know more about the history of the Women’s Aid movement in Scotland?
See our shared history »
Domestic abuse statistics
Find out more about domestic abuse in Scotland by viewing the latest domestic abuse statistics »
Need support?
Find out how to get help if you or someone you know is affected by domestic abuse »