Domestic abuse charity Refuge is urgently calling on parliament to plug a £55.5 million a year funding gap its says is leaving women at risk in their own homes.
As part of the charity’s Home is Where the Hurt is campaign, Refuge staff, supporters and ambassadors took to the Houses of Parliament with a large coffin-shaped front door with the number 75 on it – representing the number of women killed by domestic homicide in the year ending March 2025.
The visual stunt seeks to highlight the devastating consequences of under-investment in domestic abuse accommodation services, Refuge said, while reinforcing the campaign’s theme that, for women experiencing domestic abuse, home is the most dangerous place.
“Home should be a safe place, but at Refuge we know it can be the most dangerous place for women experiencing domestic abuse,” said Refuge CEO Gemma Sherrington.
“There are a myriad of ways in which perpetrators weaponise the home environment every day: from controlling the purse strings, to misusing smart home devices such as the heating or locks, to physical abuse.
“The government have pledged to halve violence against women and girls by 2034, but without investing the full funding needed for services that save women’s lives, their VAWG strategy comes up short.”
Hayden and Melony Slack, whose sister and sister-in-law Rachael and nephew Auden were murdered in a domestic homicide, attended the demonstration. “Rachael and her toddler son Auden were killed in their own home in Derbyshire 15 years ago,” they said.
“Developments in technology since 2010 mean that it is chilling to think of the impact that the misuse of surveillance tech and smart home devices can have in cases such as Rachael’s.
“The coroner at the inquest said that their deaths were the result of an epidemic of domestic abuse.
“More women than ever are seeking the support and services that Refuge provides, and this – together with the fact that 75 women were killed in 2025 through domestic homicide – shows that the epidemic has escalated.
“This is why our family, together with Refuge, urge the government to commit to providing a sustainable source of sufficient funding so that women and mothers like Rachael can access vital assistance, potentially saving lives, thereby ensuring that no other families have to endure the pain of losing a loved one to domestic homicide, as our family has.”
A Refuge survey conducted by YouGov revealed the public misunderstands domestic abuse and the dangers it presents: 85% of UK adults polled believe most people feel safe in their own homes, while 33% identified a place outside the home as the location a woman is most likely to be abused; 14% cited outdoor public spaces such as parks, 10% the street, 5% public transport, 4% the workplace, with a further 10% unsure.
Refuge is asking the UK public to sign an open letter to the prime minister, demanding his government urgently addresses the annual £55.5 million funding shortfall for safe accommodation and refuge services.
The open letter is available to sign at https://campaign.refuge.org.uk/page/187385/petition/1
