The government has been urged to take action after it was revealed that women seeking refuge after leaving an abusive relationship are facing roadblocks with their referrals due to lack of funding and specialist provisions.
Domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid has collected data on referrals to shelters and refuges between 2022 and 2023, covering 62 refuges across England. The study, which has been backed by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, has revealed that those needing specialist services aren’t having their needs met due to a gap in funding. Findings show that 60 per cent of referrals have been unsuccessful; resulting in 40 per cent of clients being turned away because of capacity and 35.4 per cent of clients rejecting the refuge space.
Women’s Aid also claim that referrals have fallen through an administrative gap, affecting the data collection shown in their study. For example, “due to limited physical space, agencies may be aware that local services can’t accept referrals for multiple women who require wheelchair access and won’t continue with the process”.
Women’s Aid commented on the significant number of survivors declining refuge spaces saying; “The decision to enter a refuge is complicated and dangerous, especially when someone is still experiencing controlling and coercive behaviour. This leads to situations where survivors cannot respond to communication with services. Survivors will change their mind. In other cases, their personal circumstances contribute. The location of the refuge may be too close to the perpetrator’s place of residence or too far away from where the survivor is located and cause disruption to her caring responsibilities. In some cases, particularly when a woman has no recourse to public funds, she may be unable to afford the refuge space. These reasons will often lead to referrals being made into multiple refuges and other housing services across different locations.”
The charity has said “refuge services and staff do lifesaving and holistic work, keeping women safe from abuse and providing support around all aspects of their life” – but claims that refuge services often “don’t have the capacity or resources” to adapt to survivors with complex needs.
Evidence from Women’s Aid indicated that a higher number of refuges have rejected referrals “even when a survivor requires a bedspace to reach safety”, which is directly due to a lack of funding. Alongside rejecting referrals, a number of facilities don’t have enough room or beds to accommodate survivors and those who have intersecting needs face the most barriers to support. Statistics suggest that “almost one in four chance” women will be turned away from refuge services after being referred with a 22 per cent shortfall in bedspaces across the country.
Using their bespoke case management and outcomes monitoring system On Track data, Women’s Aid have identified that changes need to made to increase long-term funding and have called on the government for a £427 million cash injection to boost facilities across the UK.
Another concern is that “provision is not meeting need” after the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act directive of ensuring that local authorities assess the level of need in their areas and act accordingly appears to be failing. The charity suggests that local police and councils should undertake specialist domestic abuse services and training.
Figures from Routes to Support (RtS), a UK violence against women and girls directory of services and refuge vacancies, found that only one per cent of facilities could support a client in a wheelchair and only 1.4 per cent were suitable for a client with limited mobility. The directory’s data shows that mental health support provisions are in the minority with 17 per cent of refuges offering psychological aid. Women without access to public funding face difficulty, with only 11.7 per cent of shelters able to consider a referral for a survivor who can not afford to pay for their bedspace.
Women’s Aid launched the No Woman Turned Away (NWTA) project to support women with diverse needs and recognised their right to access a safe space – identifying the most common needs of domestic abuse survivors seeking shelter to be mental health support, access to money and assistance with substance misuse. The charity said there is a “high level of demand” for refuge services in England – with individual safe houses groaning under the weight of administrative and financial pressures.
However, Women’s Aid found that overall, once successfully referred, 50 per cent of women had mental health support, 15 per cent had help with drug and alcohol misuse and 18 per cent had assistance for physical health.
Women’s Aid urges Labour to prioritise women and children
More lawyers sought to stop domestic abusers interrogating victims
Cost Of Living crisis preventing women from leaving abusive relationships
