This month’s Catholic News podcast focuses on the 16 Days of Activism against violence against women and girls, with our guest Nikki Dhillon-Keane, a therapist, trainer, author and activist, and the founder of Safe in Faith, a project of Caritas Westminster working to support survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence and exploitation in ways that understand how their faith impacts their experiences.
The theme for this year’s 16 Days focuses on digital violence and the growing threat of abuse through digital images, technology-based stalking and harassment or the use of AI to control or threaten victims/survivors of domestic abuse.
Emphasising the importance of being aware of non-physical violence, Nikki explained:
“Digital abuse is a form of coercive control, which is the umbrella under which all of these forms of violence and abuse happen. When we’re looking at ideas of violence, it’s really important to be aware that violence isn’t just about physical violence. We need to be mindful also of that death of the soul that happens when we’re not free to live our God-given life because someone’s controlling everything we do.”
This year, CSAN, the National Board of Catholic Women’s VAWG Committee and Caritas Safe in Faith have jointly produced a statement and resources which focus on the intersection between violence against women, race and migration. Nikki explained the additional barriers and difficulties that women face when they stand at the intersection of gender-based violence and racial violence or other forms of oppression.
She said:
“Statistically in every parish community, there are going to be people who’ve been subjected to these kinds of harm. In terms of what we can do to help, in the 16-day calendar we’ve highlighted some of the organisations that specifically work with women who have no recourse to public funds or who particularly work with black and minoritised women, providing support that’s linguistically and culturally accessible. We’ve highlighted those and encouraged people to spread awareness of those organisations and support them in any way that they can.”
Nikki announced that as part of the legacy of the Jubilee Year of Hope, in 2026 Caritas Westminster will launch a service called Caritas Hope that will be an umbrella for Safe in Faith and for other services that also support people in different ways.
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this podcast, please click here for information about how to seek help.
Safe In Faith has released a signposting toolkit that provides resources to clergy, aiming to help Catholic parishes offer assistance to those fleeing domestic violence and abuse.
You can listen to our Catholic News podcast interview with Nikki Dhillon Keane recorded at the start of Advent.
