Mhairi McGowan worked with Women's Aid before joining ASSIST

Over the past 30 years, thanks to organisations like Women's Aid, those who experience domestic abuse have been able to seek help and support to rebuild their lives.

However, despite all we've done as a society so far, there's still a lot to do. For those of us who live in happy homes, it can be difficult to understand how and why it happens.

After working in Women's Aid for 10 years, I could see a lot of gaps in the support we offer as a society to those who experience domestic abuse.

So when it was decided to have the first Scottish Domestic Abuse Court in Glasgow I was very pleased.

'Real difference'

Every special domestic abuse court, and there are lots across the world, has a support service to support the partners of those who are being prosecuted. In Glasgow that service is called Assist.

I joined Assist because I firmly believe that special domestic abuse courts can make a real difference to the lives of people affected by domestic abuse.

In the special court area, when police attend a domestic abuse incident, they ask the person who's experienced the abuse if they want Assist to contact them.

If they agree, we contact them within 24 hours, even if it's the weekend.

This fast contact process is really important because it can be very confusing and scary when your family is affected by domestic abuse.

It can also be dangerous - up to two women a week in the UK are killed by their abusive partners - and so we talk to people about the risks they face and then talk about things they can do to be safer.

We support children and give them space to talk about what's happened to them Mhairi McGowan

They can't stop the abuse - only the person who carries it out can do that - but we can help and it can really make a difference if you have someone to talk to about what is happening.

We can also talk about what options the court has and pass on to the court what our client would like to happen next.

After the court hearing, we talk to our client again and let them know what's happened.

We also support children and young people and give them space to talk about what's happened to them.

Sometimes they find it a bit easier to talk to somebody outside the family, but who understands what the experience of abuse can be like.

'Less daunting'

We can also give them information about what could happen at court and then it's a bit less daunting giving evidence in court if you have a rough idea of what's going to happen.

But giving evidence against someone you love is never easy, so it's very important that all the agencies involved in the special court work together to make sure we're doing the very best we can to hold the perpetrator accountable and give support to the rest of the family.

At the end of the day, it's important that the perpetrator is held accountable for his behaviour, and it usually is a he.

But no-one deserves to live with the devastating effects of abuse and for that reason Assist supports both women and men who experience domestic abuse.