The 8th – 11th  September 2008, Alberta Council for Women’s Shelters, Canada, hosted the 1st World Conference of Women's Shelters. This event’s aim was to present a new opportunity for family violence workers in Alberta and around the world to learn from international experts and each other.

Too often, women's shelter work is overlooked in discussions on family violence, when in reality they are at the forefront of dealing with this issue. The conference aimed to increase the capacity of shelters in Alberta, across Canada, and around the world to affect change in organizations and local communities to better meet the needs of women and children living in multicultural and racial communities when dealing with family violence.

This was a unique opportunity for The Haven Wolverhampton to be at the forefront of dealing with violence against women, and to network, share and support others. An invitation to be part of the conference came in a call for papers on initiative ways that shelters were working with women and children and a chance to share their ideas. The Haven presented a paper that was one of only 30 shelters to be picked to present their work. The conference was attended by 800 delegates from around the world.