From a Cardiff room to all of Wales#
Bawso was started in 1995 by a small group of Black and minoritised women in Cardiff who were worried that services for victims of domestic abuse did not suit their communities. They rented a room with a desk, a chair and a telephone. The charity now works across Wales with more than a hundred staff, many of them from the communities it serves, and says it supports more than 6,000 people a year.
It worked on forced marriage, female genital mutilation and honour-based abuse long before they were widely discussed, and more recently on modern slavery and trafficking. Its services are for women and girls and for men and boys, and its board is drawn from Black and minoritised communities in Wales.
Help in your own language#
Language runs through everything Bawso does. It has its own interpretation and translation department, with accredited interpreters covering more than 90 languages, in person, online or by phone; outside bodies can book it too. Its website can be read in about forty languages, and in Welsh.
To ask for help, Bawso gives a 24-hour helpline and a referral email on every page, and an online referral form for anyone in danger or worried about someone else. Its site has a Leave Site button that takes you away quickly.
Refuges, safe houses and support at home#
Bawso's services page describes:
- Refuges and safe houses across Wales, purpose-built to meet cultural, religious and language needs, with key workers on hand.
- Floating support, housing-related help for women and families in the community, so that tenancies are kept and survivors can build a settled life.
- Outreach and community advocacy, including extra support for refugees resettled under the government's Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.
- Forced marriage, FGM and honour-based abuse teams covering South Wales, Cwm Taf, Gwent and Dyfed Powys, which help victims stay safe and take court action.
- The Diogel Project, support and safe accommodation for survivors of trafficking and modern slavery in North Wales.
- RISE in Cardiff, a single gateway run with Cardiff Women's Aid and Llamau, where Bawso provides specialist accommodation for Black and minoritised women, girls and men.
Changing your name in Wales#
Bawso publishes nothing about names. Welsh law on names is England's, so the rules are shared (changing your name in Wales). A deed poll costs nothing if you write it yourself from GOV.UK's guide, which is published in Welsh too, and from your sixteenth birthday no parent or partner has to sign or agree, even when the pressure to keep a name comes from family (at 16 or 17).
Two cautions apply to many people Bawso helps. First, enrolling a deed poll is never required, and it means a notice in The Gazette carrying your new name and your address. Second, a UKVI account cannot be switched to a new name until a passport or identity card shows it, so plan that sequence before telling anyone else (immigration and names). Bawso's advocates and interpreters can help you plan that order safely.
Who can use Bawso#
Its services are for Black and minoritised people living in Wales, of any gender and age. Its regional teams, the Diogel Project and RISE each cover a set area, so the helpline is the place to ask what runs where you live.
This page describes what Bawso publishes on its own website, read on 26 October 2026. Bawso has not reviewed it, and listing a charity here does not mean it recommends this handbook or any deed poll service.
