Siobhan O'Connell is openDemocracy's poDcast producer. She is an award winning broadcast journalist and radio producer, with many years experience in the field with the BBC.

Recent articles

From reforming mosques to challenging perceptions of their communities, young Muslim women in Britain are stepping up to make their voices heard.  In Birmingham they have launched a website called Hear My Voice which supports young Muslim women who are tackling issues such as isolation, access to education and the "out of touch" mosque authorities.

Tasneem Mahmood, the project director of 'Hear my Voice', told Siobhan O'Connell ‘the only way to change or challenge perceptions of the Muslim community is if you are out there in the public arena." 

Women who have been in an abusive relationship have low self-esteem. In this podcast Siobhan O’Connell meets women who have taken the steps to escape from a violent partner and who are seeking ways to lead fulfilled lives. As Maria from Birmingham says “ he had total control over me, I couldn’t even go shopping for 20 minutes, if I went one minute longer I knew it was trouble”.

In fact, Maria’s self-esteem got so low she literally lost her voice. Women like Maria often go on to repeat the same abusive relationship elsewhere: it is vital that they are given the appropriate kind of support once they have made the decision to leave their partner. Three years on, through the work of a small charity WAITS, Maria has found a voice in the community. She lives with her four children and has hopes of getting a job and one day taking her family on holiday. “WAITS...it’s place where I found myself at peace and not afraid to be myself. Everybody understands what I have been through...nobody will judge me”.

Through its strict adherence to anonymity WAITS supports women even when they are still in the abusive home, but such organisations are few and far between in the UK. Access to the unique support this kind of network can offer a woman is a postcode lottery - at a time when the need for this kind of service has taken on a new and urgent dimension, with more young women becoming trapped in the rise of gangs and guns in the city of Birmingham. Listen now

The music you can hear in this podcast is "Cherry Blossom" by Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons

Hidden Crimes

The latest report by the Home Office reveals, once again, the unacceptable number of women who suffer domestic violence. The report shows 16 percent of all reported violent incidents in the UK are caused by sexual and violent abuse in the home.

Yet the abuse remains a ‘hidden crime', one which women suffer in silence, terrified that they will lose their homes, children or lives if they report it. Often the violence is repeated time and again; the report highlights the fact that one in four victims is attacked three or more times.

The government says it is ‘determined' to make it easier for victims to come forward and has promised to roll out a network of Independent Domestic Violence Advisors as part of a programme to help victims to access services.

Siobhan O'Connell has been to Birmingham to meet Joanne Miller, a survivor of domestic violence herself. She works for an organisation called WAITS Women Acting in Today's Society and supports women who want to escape from violent situations. She has also recently trained as a IDVA (Independent Domestic Violence Advisor). Joanne is often at the coalface, a first point of contact when a woman can bear the violence no more.

Listen here to find out how advocacy works at grassroots level.