Reintegration

AWSAD’s end goal for each of its clients is successful reintegration into society. The shelters and services are essentially transitional and are meant to be stepping stones for women to be rehabilitated from the violence they experienced and start their lives anew. Reintegration of survivors is therefore a key program area for AWSAD.

As much as possible, AWSAD tries to ensure that its exit criteria (client’s legal case is concluded, is psychologically recuperated, does not face risk of further violence and has economic support) are met before they release clients. When the above are ensured through assessment, the Reintegration Officer manages the client’s exiting. When residents themselves, as they often do, initiate exit, assessors discuss whether a survivor is ready to leave the shelter. Sometimes the request is approved, other times the client is advised otherwise. However, the final decision remains with the client.

When clients are reuniting with family, the Reintegration Officer speaks with the family to assess whether conditions are appropriate and personally accompanies the client to the family home. However, tracing families of a survivor is often a challenge as many of the survivors do not have identification cards that show home address.