Our Women’s Space offers a safe environment for women experiencing homelessness to meet weekly and engage in everyday activities and discussions. Recently, we were pleased to run a session around personal safety and empowerment, learning about ‘Hello Yellow’. 

"Using a simple phrase such as “Hello Yellow” can quickly remind an individual to spend 10 seconds taking in their surroundings; knowing where exit routes are, if anything seems a little bit out of place, and who’s around you, without reaching a point of anxiety or greatly heightened concern for safety. Keep it cool, calm and aware."

Ellie Tswei, Director and Instructor of Krav Maga Cornwall

Why personal safety? 

It is important for women who access our services to learn about personal safety, as the experience of homelessness leaves women in a particularly vulnerable position due to existing traumas and the nature of sleeping outdoors.

Women are twice as likely as men to experience interpersonal violence and abuse and it has been reported that up to 70% of women sleeping rough have experienced violence from an intimate partner. *1

Sleeping rough is dangerous for anyone, but being a women adds another layer of vulnerability. 36% of females sleeping rough reported being deliberately hit or kicked over the course of a year, with 65% being verbally abused. Females are also more likely to experience theft than males. *2

Some of our clients who attend our Women’s Space appeared on Hits Radio recently, sharing their experiences of sleeping rough, which included being left vulnerable when trying to go to the toilet without access to real facilities.*3,4

It is clear that women need to be equipped with the information needed to defend themselves verbally or physically, as the risk of violence can trigger existing traumas and could lead to emotional or physical harm. By avoiding or de-escalating a situation, women experiencing homelessness can defend themselves.

*1: Bretherton (2017), Reconsidering Gender in Homelessness.

*2: Scott and McManus, (2016); Moss, K., & Singh, P. (2015), cited by Ava, 2020

*3: Crisis, 2016; Homeless Link (2022), Exploring Women’s Homelessness, [https://homeless.org.uk/knowledge-hub/exploring-womens-homelessness-what-we-know/]

*4: Hits Radio, (2024), web article: [https://hellorayo.co.uk/hits-radio/cornwall/news/women-homelessness-cornwall-st-petrocs-exclusive/]

Learning personal safety 

We were pleased to welcome Ellie Tswei, Director and Instructor of Krav Maga Cornwall to our Women’s Space. Ellie teaches Krav Maga (self-preservation systems), and champions women’s safety in a number of ways. 

Ellie was warmly welcomed to our Women’s Space, where we learned about the concept of ‘Hello Yellow’, which teaches people to always be aware of their surroundings, in all environments. The different stages of awareness are based on a system called ‘Coopers Colour Code’ as follows: 

• White – Unaware of your surroundings, almost blissfully ignorant to ongoings. The most common state to live in.
• Yellow- Aware of surroundings but cool, calm and collected.
• Orange -a heightened state of awareness of your surroundings.
• Red – Ready to defend or already fighting in self defence.

By staying in the ‘yellow’ zone and encouraging self-confidence, our clients will be confident to evade or de-escalate difficult situations.  

Ellie shared some top tips about summoning that feeling of self-confidence and empowerment through simple behaviours in our body language. She also showed us how to create physical and emotional boundaries, encouraging our clients to avoid engaging with people or situations that would leave them emotionally and/or physically harmed.

We also discussed defences that can be used to avoid difficult situations by simply running away, as well as best practices to de-escalating a situation by creating a boundary with your arms and how to find strength in your voice.

Staff and clients alike found the session incredibly useful and empowering, and we look forward to welcoming Ellie back to teach us even more techniques. 

“I felt honored to be invited into the safe space that St Petrocs have created for their female clients and greatly enjoyed taking about all things self-preservation and the correlation of self worth with empowerment, confidence and translating this into the workplace, also. The work that St Petrocs do for their clients is hugely impactful at bettering lives and I’m grateful to have been a small part of this during this visit."  

Ellie Tswei, Director and Instructor of Krav Maga Cornwall

"Our 'Hello Yellow' session was incredibly empowering for the women in our Women’s Space. Ellie was sensitive to the unique challenges faced by women experiencing homelessness and provided practical, easy-to-remember techniques that everyone could apply in real-life situations. The session not only equipped us with valuable self-preservation skills but also boosted our confidence and sense of safety"

Faye, Homelessness Support Coordinator