The Asian Women's Resource Centre (AWRC) is a UK-based nonprofit organisation specializing in support services for Black, Minority, Ethnic, and Refugee (BMER) women and children experiencing abuse, particularly across London. Established in 1980 and registered as a charity under the number 1049058, AWRC is located in the London Borough of Brent and has over four decades of experience in providing culturally sensitive and holistic assistance to marginalized women and girls.

Mission and Approach

AWRC’s mission focuses on tackling violence against women and girls while challenging systemic discrimination and patriarchal violence. The organisation embraces an intersectional feminist framework, aiming to empower BME women through practical, emotional, and advocacy support. Their approach is person-centred and holistic, ensuring confidentiality and a safe, non-judgemental environment to help women make informed choices about their futures.

Services

The centre offers a comprehensive range of services including:

• Support for survivors of domestic abuse, forced marriages, honour-based and faith-based abuse.
• Advice and information on welfare benefits, housing, debt, immigration (including support for those with no recourse to public funds), employment, health, and education.
• Advocacy and outreach services tailored to diverse risks, including safety planning and confidence-building.
• Access to counselling, legal advice, and interpreters to accommodate clients from various linguistic backgrounds.
• Training and employability workshops such as ESOL, computing, sewing, embroidery, healthy eating, and yoga classes to improve women's skills and career prospects.
• Social and networking opportunities via group activities.
• Training for frontline practitioners in voluntary and statutory sectors on issues affecting BME women, including self-harm, suicide prevention, forced marriages, honour killings, trafficking, and caste and dowry-related violence.

AWRC provides its services in up to 16 community languages including Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kurdish, Punjabi, Somali, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu, and others, reflecting the diverse communities it serves.

Community Impact

With an open-door policy for women of all ethnicities and backgrounds, AWRC has been a crucial resource in London for over 40 years, providing life-saving support and advocating for systemic change. The organisation actively collaborates with local authorities and statutory bodies to deliver measurable outcomes while fostering best practices in serving BME communities.

Recognition

The Asian Women's Resource Centre is recognized as a specialist organisation offering independent, needs-led support by and for women from minority ethnic backgrounds, making it a vital institution in the UK’s landscape of feminist and anti-violence services.

[1] https://www.awrc.org.uk [2] https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regId=1049058&subId=0 [3] https://www.asianwomencentre.org.uk/about/what-we-do [4] https://www.ncdv.org.uk/agencies/asian-womens-resource-centre/ [5] https://www.nhs.uk/services/service-directory/asian-women-s-resource-centre/N10500267