Street Talk takes art therapy into a hostel where women who have escaped from traffickers are housed immediately after their escape. Most of the women have made terrifying escapes from their captors. Street Talk is the only therapeutic service which works at the hostel, making therapy available in the place where the women feel safe and without going through a referral process or go on a waiting list. Women can access therapy as soon as they arrive at the hostel which is when they need it most. 

Some of those women have children who have been born in a brothel or domestic servitude. Art therapy enables women and children who have lived through harrowing traumatic experiences to be supported whether or not they speak English. 

We are currently working with a mother and her daughter aged 8 who both have weekly one-to-one sessions with the Street Talk art therapist who supports the mother with her fears for her child and how the trauma she has lived through will take its toll on her, as well as working on her own suffering. The child uses the art therapy sessions to learn to form a trusting relationship with another adult apart from her mother, because she has learned to fear and distrust adults. 

Our art therapist also runs an art therapy group at the hostel, to bring women together, encourage them to engage in an activity, make friends and share experiences, as a step towards going out into the community to live independently. 

Our therapist is also able to support women who are going through immigration court seeking asylum in this country by writing a report for the court to confirm that they are living with trauma as a result of their experiences. It is difficult for trafficked women to make their case at immigration hearings because they often can not evidence that they have been trafficked. So far all the women supported by Street Talk therapists have been awarded leave to remain and have been able to start a new life peacefully and in safety. 

The art therapy brings a little bit of joy into the women’s lives, it supports their mental wellbeing and recovery from trauma as well as providing the companionship of a group activity.