News

Refuge responds to new BBC FOI request data on women being timed out of justice Ruth Davison, Refuge CEO, said: “Refuge is grateful to the BBC for shining a light on the issue of the common assault six-month time limit in cases of domestic abuse. It is wholly unacceptable that we have seen a 159% increase in cases failing because of the six-month time limit from 2016-17 to 2020-21, while assaults flagged as instances of domestic abuse have increased by 71%. This is incredibly concerning, yet sadly, these statistics don’t come as a surprise. Refuge knows of the many barriers … Continue reading →

Refuge launches ‘Enough is Enough’ campaign to call for amendment to Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill Campaign calls for Bill to explicitly include domestic abuse, sexual violence, and domestic homicide in Serious Violence Duty Since 2009, 16 women have lost their lives to male violence where the perpetrator is a serving or former police officer (source, Femicide Census) Campaigners from Refuge, including CEO Ruth Davison, along with supporters Baroness Helena Kennedy QC and Jo Brand, will today gather at 09:15am outside New Scotland Yard to display 16 silhouettes with the important words ‘Enough is Enough’ to represent the 16 … Continue reading →

The West End hit production of Tina – Tina Turner the Musical is delighted to have paired up with Refuge national domestic abuse charity to celebrate their 50th anniversary since opening the world’s first refuge. A special performance of Tina – Tina Turner the Musical will take place this Sunday, 10 October 2021. With a cast led by Aisha Jawando and Jammy Kasongo as Tina and Ike, Chanel Haynes who plays the role of Tina at some performances each week and is an active supporter of Refuge will join the pre-show reception. For the month of October, when you book … Continue reading →

Responding to the Home Secretary’s speech to Conservative Party Conference today, Ruth Davison, Refuge CEO said: ‘While it was heartening to see Violence against Women and Girls as the headline item in the Home Secretary’s speech to Conference today, Refuge is concerned that the limit of government ambition to tackle this serious issue is nothing more than an inquiry and a task force. These measures will cause delays, spend more public money, and push the issue into the political long grass. What we need is affirmative action to address the systematic failures in policing which allowed Wayne Couzens, a serving … Continue reading →

Refuge data shows Black women experiencing domestic abuse less likely to be referred for specialist support by police New data from Refuge, the UK’s largest single provider of domestic abuse services, shows that Black women are less likely to be referred by police to Refuge for support. Between March 2020 and June 2021, Black women were 14% less likely to be referred to Refuge for support by police than white survivors of domestic abuse. However, Refuge also found that Black survivors were 3% more likely to report the abuse they experienced to the police than white survivors of domestic abuse, … Continue reading →

Ruth Davison, Refuge CEO said: ‘The news today that Wayne Couzens handcuffed Sarah Everard, pretending to arrest her for a breach of Covid guidelines, before raping and killing her is horrifying. This man, who was tasked with protecting all of us from harm, who Sarah should have been able to trust, used his power to rape and kill a woman who was just walking home. I stand alongside Sarah’s family, alongside the family of Sabina Nessa, and alongside the families of every woman who has lost her life to male violence. I cannot imagine the pain they are feeling. Women’s … Continue reading →

Refuge issues stark warning to the government and outlines fears that scrapping the £20 uplift to Universal Credit will have a damaging impact on survivors of domestic abuse. Refuge, the country’s largest single provider of specialist domestic services, and sole provider of the National Domestic Abuse Helpline has issued a warning over fears scrapping the £20 Universal Credit uplift will have a damaging effect on women experiencing domestic abuse. Currently the government are set to scrap the uplift on Wednesday 6th October.   37.32% of survivors Refuge supported across all its services from 1st September 2019 – 31st August 2020 were receiving Universal Credit. This rose to 63.23% for survivors who … Continue reading →

In response to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) final report on the inspection into police engagement with women and girls, Ruth Davison, Refuge CEO said: ‘Refuge welcomes Her Majesty’s Inspectorate’s final report into police engagement with women and girls. We are pleased to see HMICFRS have highlighted the vital changes that Refuge and our colleagues across the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sector have long called for. But while these recommendations are necessary, the real success will be in the actioning of them. For too long, Refuge has seen report after report which … Continue reading →

In response to the joint report from HMICFRS, CoP and IOPC, Ruth Davison, Refuge Chief Executive said: “Refuge welcomes the findings in the joint report from the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), College of Policing (CoP) and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), published in response to the super complaint submitted by Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) on police use of protective measures in cases involving violence against women and girls. Refuge is grateful to CWJ for submitting this super-complaint and their tireless work fighting for better justice outcomes for survivors of violence against women … Continue reading →