Collaborative Women: Resilience, Strength and Collective Power

This blog is part of a series highlighting the amazing work of our grantee partners.

In the heart of Greater Manchester, a remarkable force for change is taking on the systems that enable violence against women. Collaborative Women is a movement born of shared experiences and fuelled by the strength of survivors.

Jan Tasker and Grace McCorkle founded Collaborative Women in 2013. As Housing Managers, they stood witness to the deep-rooted injustices facing women fleeing abuse. Their anger ignited a spark of action.

Their journey started with a simple vision: to provide a place for women facing gender-based harm to share their stories. This fast became a haven for women. Through testimony, isolating incidents became a shared hunger for change. From the outset, Collaborative Women aspired to do more than offer refuge. It aimed to pave a path to justice; better services; financial security; and more opportunity.

The driving force behind Collaborative Women is the community of women. Despite the challenges life has thrown them, through relationships and solidarity, these women have built their power to overcome and demand better.

Impact

Collaborative Women touch the lives of over 400 women every year. They provide peer-to-peer support networks where women voice their challenges and plan solutions. They train lived experience leaders. And they build local and national campaigns for change.

In 2022, their lived experience leaders influenced Greater Manchester Police to secure women’s safety and tackle institutional misogyny and racism. Through workshops; letter writing; and lobbying at local surgeries they held them accountable to their duties under the Domestic Abuse Act. They are now working with the Council and the Police to improve provisions for women fleeing abuse and address their internal culture.

Collaborative Women’s impact extends well beyond its community. Realising that safe housing is a cornerstone for breaking the cycle of abuse, they pioneered a shared housing and life skills program called ‘Moving Forward’. This equipped women with the tools to maintain tenancies and lead independent, safe lives. In turn, it helped to build the power and confidence of women to demand better housing for residents right across the city. They are now standing in solidarity with other affected groups to improve conditions.

Next Steps

Following this early success, Collaborative Women want to grow their local organising. They have struggled to fundraise for this work, but support from the Civic Power Fund will help them train and organise even more lived-experience leaders.

After deciding on nine priority areas for action, they are currently surveying women across Stretford and the wider Trafford area in a bid to choose an organising campaign. Once the priority issue has been selected, they will start to design this next stage.

Their story is one of resilience, strength, and evidence that the collective power of women can reshape society.