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By Phoebe Nicholson-Pallett, Research and Evaluation Officer

As part of our Annual Audit 2024, Women’s Aid heard from 104 domestic abuse organisations [1], with the aim of better understanding the unique value that specialist services offer to survivors of abuse, including children, as well as to local communities and society. This includes specialist ‘By & For’ services that are run by and for particular groups of marginalised women. We found that specialist domestic abuse services work to continually improve understandings of and responses to domestic abuse across society, keeping communities safe and saving money. They advocate for survivors to receive the holistic and longer-term support they need to recover and live free from control and abuse. Specialist services understand their local communities and seek to improve the safety of their communities through prevention, awareness, and education. All the while these services must continually adapt to meet new challenges and complex societal and often political issues.  

Our research showed that specialist services are doing this in five main ways:

1. By recognising the diversity of survivors and their experiences

“We have been able to provide services by-and-for the Latin American and BME community in their preferred language which has proven to make a big impact in the service users, 98% of our users in 22/23 state that it made a difference to receive the service in a Latin American and BME women’s organisation.” – Annual Survey, 2023 

“We’re there from beginning to whenever it needs to end, or not end – it’s open. It’s what women and girls told us that they needed – they come in and they tell their story once and we’re with them until they decide, “right. That’s it. I’m off now”. […] We don’t see repeat victimisation like we used to in some of the more rigid services where you come in at one end and you get that bit of support and then off you go.” – Interview, 2023. 

2. By engaging survivors in the community

“Our service has helped so many women and families feel safe, cared for, listened to and supported […] I think not only have we empowered our survivors to move on and up we also helped the wider community by way of some survivors volunteering and some taking up meaningful employment opportunities.” – Annual Survey, 2023. 

3. By identifying gaps and filling them

“We’ve just got for this year a Safer Ageing Domestic Abuse Advisor because one of the things that was identified in [our] assessment was that older people were suffering from domestic abuse but not reaching out.” – Interview, 2023. 

4. Ensuring survivors receive the support they are entitled to from statutory services

“We identified an increase in referrals where mental wellbeing was the primary support need and those referrals were experiencing long waiting times for mental health support so were looking for something else to bridge the gap.” – Annual Survey, 2023. 

“Not having a criminal justice system that works for women subject to Domestic Abuse. This increases risk for women and adds pressure to Domestic Abuse services.” – Annual Survey, 2023. 

5. By sharing knowledge and expertise

“We offer training to professionals, and group work to survivors and their children. We are visible as a reputable and passionate charity in our local community and participate in community events. We offer a counselling service to those recovering, and work in partnership with local agencies to offer excellent service provision that best meets the needs of the community.” – Annual Survey, 2023. 

“We have been influencing the narratives around DA that blame victims and fail to hold perpetrators responsible for abuse. We are now seeing the impact of this […] with many lead agencies talking about the importance of language used and embedding responses that challenge victim blaming.” – Annual Survey, 2023. 

We know that specialist domestic abuse services are doing far more than responding to the immediate or short-term needs of survivors and their children. They are saving lives, restoring hope, working to ensure that survivors receive the representation and responses from statutory services and support they are entitled to.  

It is crucial, therefore that we continue to see, recognise, and amplify the value of these vital services, and enable them to adopt strategies to ensure their long-term survival and sustainability. 

Read the full report here: The Domestic Abuse Report 2024: The Annual Audit 

References:

[1] Running 188 service entries on Routes to Support. Of these 104 organisations, 80 ran refuge services (21 indicated that they did not, and three did not respond to the question) and 76 provided community-based services (15 indicated that they did not, and 13 did not respond to this question).

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When it comes to responding to crime, it can be said with certainty that data matters – it matters when it comes to establishing who is most vulnerable, who the likely perpetrators are, what the underlying causes are and what can be gleaned from the data to keep those who are vulnerable, safe. While data on domestic abuse is available, it contains gaps which leave us with questions about the women’s lived experiences, while also often concealing the gendered nature of this abominable crime. What we must remember is that each week, a woman is still being murdered by her abuser and children left motherless because of this heinous crime.  

At the end of last year, the Office for National Statistics published its annual domestic abuse data bulletin, with figures for the year ending March 2023 showing that one in four women (27%) experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16. For men, this figure is around one in seven (13.9%). When looking only at partner abuse, the figures are 22.7% for women and 10.2% for men.  

The latest figures also found that an estimated 1.4m women experienced domestic abuse in the previous year, an apparent decrease from 1.7m in the year before, but this is not a statistically significant change. The survey for the most recent year contained an error, which resulted in missing data, and the data comes on the tail end of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the ONS did report a significant decrease in the proportion of women aged 16 to 59 years who experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2023 (6.5%) compared with the year ending March 2020 (8.1%). This comparison only relates to women up to the age of 59 years because the upper age limit was only removed in October 2021. This was following successful campaigning from Women’s Aid and others, finally demonstrating that domestic abuse can be suffered by anyone – daughters, mothers, grandmothers. Whilst the ONS reports that this is a statistically significant change with 95% confidence, they do note caution around the data, due to the caveats with data collection in the year ending March 2023. This period also covers the period of the Covid pandemic, which is likely to have had an impact on the figures, although this requires longer term analysis. 

We have previously spoken about the ‘hidden’ gender asymmetry when looking at the statistics. First, it is important to remember that the estimates published by the ONS are taken from the Crime Survey for England and Wales and are not based on reporting to the police. They are therefore the best available statistics on prevalence. However, in our blog we set out how these figures do not capture context, impact and repeat victimisation – whether these behaviours were experienced as a pattern of abuse in a context of coercive control, how they made the victims feel and whether the abuse formed part of a series of incidents. Extensive research shows that these factors are important in understanding the gendered dynamics of domestic abuse, as women are not only more likely to experience domestic abuse, but are also more likely to be subjected to coercive control, and to being seriously physically and mentally harmed or killed. 

Since bringing this to the fore, we worked with a team of leading researchers led by the Centre for Gender and Violence Research at the University of Bristol, to develop a measure of prevalence that incorporates coercive control and the impact of abuse. These questions were added to the Crime Survey in April 2023 as part of a split-sample trial until March 2025, and we look forward to seeing the impact this has on the figures that are being reported.  

The latest ONS bulletin also contains data on domestic homicides, which do clearly show the gendered nature of domestic abuse. Homicide Index data from the year ending March 2020 to the year ending March 2022 shows that 67.3% of domestic homicide victims were female. Of the 249 female domestic homicide victims, the suspect was male in a staggering 241 cases. In the majority of female domestic homicides, the suspect was a male partner or ex-partner (74.7%), whereas in the majority of male domestic homicides, the suspect was a male family member (66.1%). 

Furthermore, the total number of women killed by a partner/ex-partner over this three-year period was 186. All of the suspects were male. This is an average of 1.2 women per week killed by a male partner/ex-partner. In previous years, this average has been around 1.5 women per week, but homicide data changes year-on-year, so a longer-term analysis would be needed to establish a trend. Similarly, regardless of whether there is a trend or not, the stark reality remains that each week, a woman is killed by a man – the grief and devastation this leaves is unimaginable, as each woman is someone’s daughter, mother, sister, or cherished friend and each loss is an immense tragedy.  

One glaring gap in this data is victim suicides in the context of domestic abuse, and this is one area that new research is shedding more light on, including the Domestic Homicide Project, which has been looking at deaths in the context of domestic abuse since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.  

Another critical gap is in the experiences of Black and minoritised women. In November 2023, Imkaan and the Centre for Women’s Justice launched a groundbreaking report into the deaths of Black and minoritised women due to domestic abuse. The report highlighted that there is currently no data available on the breakdown of intimate partner killings of Black and minoritised women by men. There are therefore many unanswered questions about the deaths of women experiencing domestic abuse, and particularly those women subject to additional inequalities. 

Since 2020, large scale changes including the Covid-19 pandemic, the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and the rising cost-of-living pose further questions about changes to perpetration, experiences of abuse and access to support. The need for more and better data on domestic abuse has therefore never been more critical.  

It is also vital to remember that every data point behind every trend relating to domestic abuse should not exist. Women and children should be safe in their homes – that is a basic human right. As long as this data exists, criminals abusing these rights are committing crimes with impunity. We must come together to end this epidemic, once and for all. 

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To read Women’s Aid’s analysis of the findings click here.

Why the definition of refuge matters

Sarika Seshadri, Head of Research and Evaluation

“For those three weeks, I didn’t eat anything. I was breastfeeding. And it was COVID, and the hotel didn’t give too much, just gave a cereal, a juice, and a cake. That was all my food for three weeks, while I was breastfeeding. And I didn’t have money to buy anything”.

(Multiple types of TSA, Other ethnic group)

The report “Women survivors of domestic abuse and their lived experiences of temporary safe accommodation in England: January to June 2023” from the ONS explores the experiences of women accessing different forms of temporary accommodation. Centering women’s voices, it sheds important light on what it is actually like to flee domestic abuse. From worrying about not being able to safely return to pay back some borrowed money for a train fare, to not being able to feed yourself or your children, the stories that the women shared bring home the real and daily challenges women face in escaping domestic abuse. Whilst each woman’s experience is different, the stories here reflect the critical difference that specialist support can make, whilst also being a testament to the strength and resilience of the women themselves.

What the stories also show is the difference between a refuge service, including specialist ‘by and for’ refuge services, and other types of temporary accommodation, which may not even be safe. Women’s Aid defines a refuge service as a type of safe accommodation dedicated for survivors of domestic abuse that includes a specific programme of support. This differs from other forms of accommodation, which we know from our work on our No Woman Turned Away project, are often unsuitable and dangerous for women fleeing domestic abuse.

This report highlights this difference, showing that in other forms of temporary accommodation, women and their children were often unable to access even basic rights such as food, water, clothing, bedding or space to sleep. Women were frightened for their safety, and the safety of their children. They struggled to navigate complex systems to access services, felt isolated and depressed and struggled to secure the resources they needed to move on. Despite the fact that children are now recognised in law, under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, as victims in their own right, women were unable to secure support for their traumatised children.

 “We’re just living in one small room, with … one double bed. So, we have to share a bed. He sometimes didn’t like me to sleep with him… I told the council, ‘This is the situation. It’s very narrow, and I don’t know what to do’… They were like, ‘You have to make him sleep on the floor, and you sleep on the bed.’…How can I do that? He’s a disabled child. He’s autistic. How can I make him sleep on the floor, while I’m on the bed?”

(Multiple types of TSA, Other ethnic group)

Even those women who had accessed refuge, reported that they were concerned about staff who were overworked and overstretched, and some refuges didn’t offer the quality or specialism of service that women fleeing domestic abuse desperately need. 

“As much as women have help, particularly speaking for myself, you have the support, you have your key worker that comes to see you every week, but one side that I thought was not looked …  into is people’s mental health … accessing even mental help was very difficult … Because I felt suicidal a lot. But my key worker was very good, she was really brilliant. She made loads and loads of referrals.”.

(Refuge, Black African)

This quote supports the findings from a recent report from Imkaan and the Centre for Women’s Justice on the suicides and homicides of Black and minoritised women, that specialist support, and in particular support provided by ‘by and for’ services, can potentially be the difference between life and death. Women fleeing domestic abuse need a well-funded, sustainable and high-quality network of specialist refuge services, including ‘by and for’ refuge services, that can support them and their children to recover, move on and live free from abuse.  

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Today we have published The Domestic Abuse Report: the Annual Audit 2022, looking at the work of domestic services in England and the experiences of women who use them.

We found over a third (35.1%) of service users reported feeling depressed or having suicidal thoughts as a result of the abuse they experienced[1].

We know from our work with survivors that this is likely to be the tip of the iceberg because of the stigma and fear around disclosing poor mental health. The evidence is clear: being subjected to domestic abuse can have devastating and long-term consequences for mental wellbeing and domestic abuse is a key driver of women’s mental ill health.

Yet our report shows that in 2020-21 domestic abuse services were struggling to cope with demand and provide the level of support that survivors so desperately need because of funding uncertainty and pressures resulting from the pandemic. Despite the number of spaces in refuge services in England increasing by 354 (the highest increase in recent years), demand still exceeds available space. Without sufficient refuge spaces, survivors are often left with the impossible choice of returning to their perpetrator – or becoming homeless.

Key findings:

• 9% of organisations responding to our annual survey told us they had been running an area of their domestic abuse service in 2020-21 without any dedicated funding.
• 9% of refuge referrals in 2020-21 were declined, most often because of a lack of capacity.
• 7% of organisations responding to our annual survey reported that Covid-19 had affected demand for their services. Of these organisations, 84.5% told us that demand for the support they offer had increased.
• Provision was not always accessible to all women who needed it. Only 6.3% of all service vacancies were able to consider women who had no recourse to public funds and less than half could accommodate a woman with two children. This fell to less than one in five for a woman with three children.
• 6% of women placed in refuge between 1st July 2020 and 31st March 2021 came from a different local authority area to the refuge they moved to, and 28.1% to a completely different region.

We estimate that refuge services supported 10,809 women and 11,890 children and community-based services supported 124,044 women and 148,852 children in 2020-21. The length of time women experienced abuse before this point was, on average, six years. For different women this period ranged from less than a month to a staggering 66 years. It is vital that specialist services are able to provide the expert support survivors need to recover from the trauma of domestic abuse and to rebuild their lives free from fear and abuse.

But refuges continued to face funding challenges and the impact of Covid-19 in 2020-21:

• 5% of refuge services were commissioned by their local authorities in 2020-21. This is roughly the same as in the previous year (71.7% in 2019-20).
• 2% of Women’s Aid Annual Survey respondents that had community-based support provision told us that they had received funding from their local authority for community-based support in 2020-21. However, this funding often did not cover full costs of delivering services.
• Services faced challenges in maintaining staffing levels and addressing concerns about the safety and wellbeing of staff and survivors.

However, the pandemic has also led to some new doors opening for domestic abuse services, including new short-term funding pots, reaching more survivors in the remote delivery of services, and new and strengthened partnerships with external agencies. Some organisations had even managed to open new services or expand areas of their domestic abuse support work.

Early impact of the new statutory duty

This year saw the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 which includes a new £125m statutory duty on local authorities in England to assess the need for support for survivors of domestic abuse, including children, in safe accommodation, and fund services accordingly. In April 2021, some elements of this new statutory duty came into force and our report shows feedback from local services on the initial impact of the duty and its implementation in their local area. Next year’s annual audit report will give us much more information on the impact of this new duty.

At the time services responded, June and early July 2021, there still appeared to be considerable variation in the way that local authorities were interpreting the regulations and guidance in the statutory duty. Some felt well represented in the implementation process “All refuges and domestic abuse services are represented by the local partnership board in our local authority area, I am aware of two (ourselves included) services by and for Black and minoritised women.” Others flagged concerns about planned practice going forward “Other key DV/SV services are included [on the local Partnership Board] they are all primarily white British service providers. The LA is intending to take BME specialist services in house…”  or that there might be unintended poor consequences for survivors  “… I fear it may lead to them stepping back from the national refuge network with less accommodation available, and restrictions on national access ….”   

Conclusion

Our report shows the vital work done by specialist domestic abuse services for women and children, in refuge services and also in support based in the community. We will continue to monitor the impact of the new statutory duty on the provision of refuge services. It is important to also remember the vital work done by those specialist domestic abuse services based in the community (whose funding is not covered by provisions in the statutory duty).

In a particularly challenging year, there have been some good news stories. The number of bedspaces in refuge services in England has increased (the highest increase seen in recent years). The resilience and determination shown by the professionals and volunteers in domestic abuse services to continue to support survivors during the changing times of the pandemic have been inspiring.

To read the full findings, along with information about missing data and sample sizes, and to find out more about our data sources, please see the full report: The Domestic Abuse Report 2022: The Annual Audit.

[1] Over a third (35.1%) of service users in a sub-sample reported feeling depressed or having suicidal thoughts as a result of the abuse. In community-based services, this was 34.0% of service users and in refuge services the percentage was much higher at 45.6%

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