Our training is grounded in Black feminist praxis, which means we understand violence, harm and inequality as systemic conditions rather than individual failures, and we build practice from the experience of the survivors most often failed by existing provision. Underpinning all of our work is our FRIEDA framework, a socio-ecological approach to service delivery, design, prevalence and response that situates each survivor within the wider systems shaping their safety. As the only by-and-for IDVA training delivery centre, we start from the reality of Black and racialised women and girls who so often encounter secondary harm within the very systems meant to protect them, and we teach a way of working that honours a survivor's voice and autonomy while clearing the path of harm ahead of them.

Yes. We do not train generic, ready-made sector content. Our training is built on frameworks, tools and resources we have developed ourselves, including our FRIEDA framework, our IRTT intersectional risk assessment tool, our approach to racially-informed trauma practice, our work on counter-allegations and primary perpetrator identification, and the anti-oppressive principles that underpin our practice. Where practitioners train with us, they leave able to apply these models in live casework, and Frieda's Hub, our resource centre, holds the accompanying tools so that learning does not stay on the page.

Our intersectional risk assessment tool, the IRTT, has been recognised by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, and our frameworks are drawn from frontline by-and-for practice rather than adapted from generic provision.

Our training runs across three broad routes. We offer open-access, off-the-shelf sessions and workshops that anyone in or adjacent to the sector can book onto, including our Black feminist and intersectional workshops such as Don't Call Me Sis. We offer accredited qualification training for practitioners building a formal foundation in intersectional advocacy. And we offer bespoke organisational training designed with you around your context, your workforce and the communities you serve. Each route has its own page with the detail you need to choose the one that fits.

Off-the-shelf training runs to a set programme on scheduled dates, so you or your team can book onto an existing session and learn alongside practitioners from other organisations. Bespoke training is designed with you from the ground up, shaped around the specific challenges your service is facing and the communities it works with, and delivered to your team at a time that suits you. Where an organisation wants the grounding of our established frameworks and tools delivered in their own context, bespoke is usually the right route.

Our training is designed for practitioners across the domestic, sexual violence and abuse sector, including IDVAs, ISVAs, caseworkers and advocates, alongside organisational leaders and commissioners who want to strengthen how their services respond to the survivors most often failed by existing provision. Some sessions are open to anyone wanting to build an intersectional analysis, while our accredited route is suited to those working in frontline or advocacy roles.

Most of our open-access training is delivered online so practitioners across the country can take part without the cost and time of travel, with bespoke organisational sessions available in person by arrangement.

Open-access sessions are booked through Eventbrite. We run free introductory sessions alongside our paid training, so you can get a sense of our approach before enrolling on a full programme if you would prefer. For bespoke and organisational training, get in touch and we will scope it with you.

Pricing varies by programme and is shown at the point of booking. For organisational and bespoke training our rates are tiered to reflect the size and resource of the organisation, and we hold a reduced rate for by-and-for services in recognition of the conditions they work under.

Yes. If you have any access requirements, let us know when you book, or get in touch, and we will make the arrangements needed for you to take part fully. We are also committed to keeping this training reachable for those who need it most, so if cost is a barrier, get in touch and we will talk through what is possible.

An IDVA is an Independent Domestic Violence and Abuse Adviser, sometimes called an Independent Domestic Violence and Abuse Advocate. The sector title is usually shortened to Independent Domestic Violence Adviser, but we always write it out in full. We work from a coercion and control model, which understands domestic abuse as a pattern of power and control rather than a series of violent incidents. Naming the abuse alongside the violence keeps the whole pattern in view, including the harm that leaves no physical mark. IDVAs give independent, specialist emotional and practical support to people who have been harmed by domestic abuse, whether or not they have reported to the police. Since May 2025 the role has been recognised in statutory guidance issued under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024.

An IDVA works with a survivor to understand the risks they face and what they need, and then builds a plan for their safety alongside them. That can mean supporting them through the criminal and civil courts, speaking up for them in multi-agency meetings such as MARACs, and linking them with housing, health, legal and financial support, so that the survivor is not left to navigate each system on their own.

An ISVA is an Independent Sexual Violence Adviser. ISVAs give independent, specialist emotional and practical support to people who have experienced rape, sexual assault or sexual abuse, at any point in their life and whether or not they choose to report.

An ISVA gives a survivor clear information about their rights and options, including reporting, and supports them through the criminal justice process, from the first police contact through to court and beyond. They assess needs and risks with the survivor, help other professionals understand the survivor's perspective, and make sure the survivor's own choices stay at the centre of every decision.

Both roles provide independent, survivor-centred advocacy. An IDVA specialises in domestic abuse, while an ISVA specialises in sexual violence and abuse. In practice the two often overlap, because sexual violence is frequently part of domestic abuse, which is one reason we train advocates who can hold both.

An IIDSVA is an Intersectional Independent Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse Advocate. It is the advocacy role at the heart of our training, bringing domestic and sexual violence advocacy together and grounding it in the Friedom Framework, our model of intersectional and anti-racist practice.

Intersectional advocacy recognises that a survivor's experience of abuse, and of the services meant to help them, is shaped by race, gender, class, disability, sexuality, immigration status and the ways these overlap. Building on the work of many Black feminists and on Black feminist praxis, our Friedom Framework works across three connected branches: independent advocacy with the survivor, institutional advocacy that challenges the systems they have to navigate, and synergised advocacy, where what we learn on the frontline drives change in those systems.

Most domestic abuse frameworks were designed around white, Western and heteronormative experiences, and they often fail survivors whose lives do not fit that mould. Racialised survivors face compounded barriers to safety and justice, so advocacy that does not account for them can reproduce the harm it is meant to address. As the Friedom Framework puts it, if the advocate is not intersectional and anti-oppressive, their work will not lead to the justice, protection and freedom of all peoples.

An IIDSVA carries out the core work of both roles, including risk and needs assessment, safety planning and court support, and does so through an intersectional lens. Alongside casework, an IIDSVA documents and challenges the institutional barriers their clients meet, asking both how they can help this survivor and how they can change the system so it does not harm the next one.

Most people come into IDVA work from related roles such as support work, housing, social care or the voluntary sector, although lived experience and a strong commitment to survivors matter as much as a particular background. Statutory guidance expects IDVAs and ISVAs to hold, as a minimum, a Level 3 regulated qualification relevant to the role, and many employers will support new advocates to complete one once they are in post.

The statutory guidance for IDVAs and ISVAs sets a Level 3 regulated qualification as the minimum, covering areas such as risk, case management, trauma-informed practice and the criminal and civil justice systems. It also expects advocates to keep learning in the role and to receive regular clinical supervision.

Accredited IDVA and ISVA qualifications usually carry a fee, which is often paid by the advocate's employer or commissioner. Some providers offer subsidised places, and it is worth asking your employer whether training is funded through your service. We also run free sessions and share free practitioner tools, so you can experience our approach before committing to the full IIDSVA programme.

Learners work towards the OCN London Level 3 Certificate in Domestic Abuse: Prevention and Early Intervention, with the Level 3 Diploma available as an enhancement. Alongside the core domestic abuse units, every learner completes the accredited units Understanding the Role of an Independent Domestic Violence and Abuse Advisor (IDVA) and Responding to Victims of Sexual Violence (ISVA), so they leave able to work across both areas of practice.

The programme runs over 21 training days, with three days each month on a Monday, a Wednesday and the following Monday, from 10am to 4.30pm. The next cohort starts on Monday 2 November 2026, is delivered live online, and finishes in May 2027.

The standard rate is £2,400 per learner, and discounts are available, so please get in touch to talk through what applies to you or your organisation. We also deliver closed cohorts for teams, in the room or in a hybrid format.

The IIDSVA is for people working, or preparing to work, with survivors of domestic and sexual violence and abuse, including IDVAs, ISVAs, outreach and advocacy workers, and practitioners in related services who hold risk. It suits anyone who wants to build a practice that is intersectional, anti-racist and accountable to the survivors most often failed by systems.