Our mission

Refuge is committed to a world where domestic violence is not tolerated or ignored and where women and children can live in safety.

Our ethos is about empowerment. In everything we do we encourage and support women and children to regain control of their lives and move forwards in a positive way.

Our aim is to provide a range of services and a voice against domestic violence for abused women and children.

How will we achieve our mission?

With our integrated programme of:

Provision:

Providing high quality services to women and children - from a national helpline to places of safety, from community-based initiatives to counselling to encourage and supporting women and children to regain control of their lives and move forwards in a positive way.

Prevention:

Helping prevent domestic violence through campaigning, education, training and research. We work in partnership with other agencies to raise awareness of domestic violence, its causes and solutions.

Protection:

Advocating changes, improvements and the implementation of legislation and encouraging other agencies to develop best practice services and consistent approaches to meet the needs of women and children experiencing domestic violence.

Why we are here

• One woman in four experiences domestic violence at some point in her life.
• Two women are killed each week by a current or former partner.
• Domestic violence accounts for almost a quarter of all violent crime.
• In 90% of domestic violence incidents children are in the same or next room.
• On average a woman will be assaulted by her partner or ex-partner 35 times before reporting it to the police.