Victims and survivors of domestic violence and abuse

BLOG SERIES: Perspectives on the pandemic

More than a year on from the launch of the National Emergencies Trust’s Coronavirus Appeal on 18 March 2020, we have asked our incredible funding partners to share their unique perspectives on the pandemic. In August 2020 a new consortium of women’s aid charities led by Refuge was set up including Nexus NI, Scottish Women’s Aid and Welsh Women’s Aid. The partners have used Coronavirus Appeal funding to increase the capacity of their helplines across the UK, and each organisation has identified projects that will reach out to those who face significant barriers when accessing services.

Louise Firth, Director of Fundraising at Refuge shares how the pandemic has impacted those affected by domestic violence and abuse and Refuge’s capacity to overcome the challenges it faced.

What difference has the pandemic made to the communities you serve?

In what the UN has called a “shadow pandemic,” reports of violence against women and girls has increased in the wake of lockdowns around the world. Trapped at home with a perpetrator, many victims have no respite from the abuse. Friends, family and services that offer support have become harder to access and perpetrators have manipulated restrictive lockdown measures to further isolate and terrorise their victims. Research has shown that two thirds of women living with a perpetrator reported that the violence escalated during lockdown (Women’s Aid for BBC Panorama). On average, it takes a woman seven attempts to leave an abusive partner before finally leaving, and lockdown made this window of opportunity even smaller.

What impact did you see on your services as a result?

Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline saw a 61% increase in the number of calls and contacts logged on its database between April 2020 and February 2021. As lockdown restrictions eased in the summer, we saw a spike in the number of women contacting the Helpline in search of a refuge space. Staff caseloads across our frontline services have been rising steadily throughout the year, and many are now at capacity. To ensure our staff and beneficiaries were protected from the transmission of the virus, we transitioned much of our support to be provided remotely and ensured our frontline staff quickly received key worker status so they could attend our services and keep projects running.

What has the funding from the Coronavirus Appeal enabled you to do for those people you help?

Thanks to funding from the National Emergencies Trust, we have been able to work in partnership to provide a united response to domestic abuse across the devolved nations. Our work as a consortium with NEXUS NI, Scottish Women’s Aid and Welsh Women’s Aid has increased the reach of all our services to the rising numbers of survivors who needed help during the pandemic. At Refuge, we are using the Coronavirus Appeal funds to expand the accessibility of Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline for harder-to-reach groups and groups that are disproportionately impacted by domestic abuse. We are finding new means of communicating with survivors in ways that they are comfortable with.

What challenges and/or opportunities do you foresee ahead?

The end of lockdown may be in sight, but Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline remains extremely busy with calls and contacts at a higher level than before the pandemic. We must continue in our mission to ensure the sustainability of the service and make all the developments necessary to respond to the rising demand. Domestic abuse remains high on the public agenda, and in the wake of this public consciousness referrals into our services continue to grow. We are operating in a difficult funding climate and recovering from many years of major cuts to our services under austerity; our priority is to secure the sustainable funding we need to ensure that each woman gets the support she deserves.