For whom is the Women´s Shelter?

The Women Shelter’s Association runs two shelters, one in Reykjavík and one in Akureyri in North Iceland. Both the shelter in Reykjavík and in Akureyri are for all women who cannot live at home due to violence. The shelters are for women regardless of sexuality; women with and without children, Icelandic women as foreign, trans women and women who have not been subjected to physical violence. The violence can be of all kinds, and the person who uses it is usually someone close to them, such as a spouse, parent, sibling or child.

Children at the Shelter

Mothers are responsible for their children during the stay. In 2020, a children’s social worker was hired at the shelter in Reykjavík, who manages the cases of children and mothers in the house. The children’s work is organized based on the situation in the house at any given time. There is an aim to help and assist the children, who have to come and stay at the shelter, to increase their quality of life by creating fun and entertaining activities. A lot of effort is put into celebrating birthdays and other holidays.

Life at the Shelter

Staying at the shelter is free, and women and children are also provided with essentials, such as food and hygiene products.

Both the shelter in Reykjavík and in Akureyri are beautiful and homey houses which attempt to mimic a normal family life. Upon arrival at the shelter the woman is provided with a room for herself and her children (bed, duvets, pillows and linen all provided). In the shelter, women have access to wireless internet, a washing machine and a dryer. Members of staff and women who stay at the shelter divide housework. There are few but important rules in the house, who aim to keep the stay simple and smooth. There are rules on children’s bedtime for an example, but in general the aim of house rules is to create security and consistency in the work being carried out at the shelter, in order to increase the effectiveness of the stay. The use of alcohol or drugs is strictly prohibited in the shelter.

There is a rich emphasis on confidentiality at the shelter, on everything which goes on between a member of staff and the women who stay at the shelter. We also ask the women who stay at the shelter to keep information they receive from each other, to keep that information for themselves. Furthermore, the address of the Women’s Shelters is not public. The ideology of the work at the shelter is that the woman is a specialist in her own case and that she only needs temporary assistance to deal with her circumstances, and rebuild her life without violence.

Women are provided with weekly support interviews during their stay, furthermore they are empowered by communicating with other women, with similar experience, who also stay at the shelter. How long women stay at the shelter and what kind of services they need varies greatly.