Access to settled housing is often secured after accessing emergency accommodation
such as a specialist refuge at the point of crisis. Fitzpatrick (2003) commented on the
value of specialist refuge provision in meeting the needs of households escaping
domestic violence. However, many women state that specialist refuge accommodation
is not always available. Women have reported differing experiences in terms of the
ease of refuge or other specialist accommodation not been able to access provision
immediately, for example, Quiglars and Pleace (2010) point out one woman in their
study said that she had tried to leave a violent situation previously but was unable as
she could not access a refuge place to stay (access to specialist refuge
accommodation can provide an essential safe space to start recovery).
This woman’s experience is by no means rare. The Women’s Aid Annual Survey (2017) suggests that refuge provision is extremely stretched, with community-based
services that responded declining roughly one in five referrals to their service in 2015-
16. Only a quarter of women attempting to access a refuge space were accommodated
in suitable refuge space. The Women’s Aid Nowhere to Turn Report (2017) found that some women give up looking for a refuge space and remain with the perpetrator (7%).
The Women’s Aid Nowhere to Turn Report for 2018 highlights that one in ten women slept rough while waiting for a refuge space and that 60% of referrals to a refuge were
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refuges that offered 24 hour staffing had had fallen from 796 to 737 in 2016/17. The
Government has provided three funding opportunities in relation to refuge
accommodation (£10 million in 2014/15, £3.2 million in 2015/16 and £20 million for
2016-18). The uncertainty of refuge funding has caused much concern across the
women’s sector with suggestions from the Government that it may remove refuge funding from the welfare system. The Government announced in August 2018 that it
would keep housing benefit in place for all supported accommodation including
refuges.
The Bureau for Investigative Journalism (BIJ) found that funding for refuges has been
reduced by local authorities by a quarter since 2010 (from £31.2 million 2010/2011 to
£23.9 million in 2016/7). For example, Chelsea and Westminster Council have cut the
budget for refuge accommodation by 45% since 2010 (BIJ). Not surprisingly, such
funding reductions are seeing refuges having to increasingly turn women and children
away. Women’s Aid Nowhere to Turn Report (2017) found that for one day in 2016 a total of 78 children and 78 women were turned away from refuges. Women’s Aid state one fifth of specialist refuges have closed since 2010. In Sunderland, where Gentoo is
based, the specialist refuge for women with mental health or substance misuse issues
closed some years back. The report makes a clear case that difficulty finding refuge
space when women had higher specialist support needs. Disabled women (28%), and
women with mental health support needs (26%) feature highly amongst the women
supported by the caseworkers rather than being accommodated in a refuge.
Whilst some local authority areas have Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG)
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cases been problematic given the process is often undertaken by generic
commissioners with no understanding of domestic abuse, resulting in non-specialist,
generic organisations being commissioned to operate domestic abuse refuges and
services. The importance of refuges and safe housing in relation to women’s safety when fleeing domestic abuse can be demonstrated by figures from the Femicide
Census. It identified that 62.7% (586) of women killed by men from 2009 to 2015 were
killed by a current or former partner. Of the 200 women known to have been separated
before they were killed, 76% were killed within the first year that followed their
separation and sixty-five women were killed in their own home or the home they shared
with a partner. Unfortunately, the Femicide Census does not include the housing
tenures of the women or perpetrators. Whilst the Census details key recommendations
for agencies, such as the UK Government, to place reducing femicide at the centre of
its work to reduce violence against women, such as Police, judiciary and employers,
there are no specific recommendations for housing providers or local housing
authorities.
Research has also found that the experience of living in refuge or temporary
accommodation can be stressful and stigmatising for both women and children
(Abrahams, 2007; Fitzpatrick, 2003; Jones et al., 2002). Fitzpatrick (2003) highlighted
some of the tensions involved in the provision of shared accommodation, particularly
where there is a shortage of move-on accommodation. In addition to the tensions
involved in living in shared accommodation, Hague and Malos (2005) comment that
refuge accommodation can merely be a charade if there is no permanent safe
accommodation afterwards for women to rebuild their lives. For some women
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uncertainty of securing accommodation in an area they want to be in, it is perhaps
understandable why this is not always the most suitable choice. Families who are
forced to flee domestic violence often have to leave the home without their personal
possessions, which can exacerbate the stress and difficulty of trying to resettle
(Pleace, 2008).
‘I had to leave all my possessions and friends I feel as if I have lost everything
and am struggling with the isolation of living in a strange area, away from all my
supports.’ (Scottish Women’s Aid, 2016, p.48).
Domestic abuse is a key feature in the homelessness of women, Pawson (2001)
argues it is a major factor for people who experience repeat homelessness. In addition
to settled housing, outreach and resettlement support has been shown to play an
important role in preventing recurrent homelessness for victims of domestic abuse
(Pawson et al., 2007). This can take the form of financial and legal advice, support with
claiming welfare benefits, and help with accessing educational courses or entry into
employment.
Moving home is one of a limited number of options available, for some women staying
in their home is important as it means they have existing support mechanisms around
them and it means not having to uproot children from schools. For many, moving to
another area without their existing close community ties would further increase their
isolation. Kelly (2014) asserts that for over four decades women’s organisations have advocated for re-housing rights and interventions which might enable women and
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obvious benefits to staying in their home when the perpetrator has left, post abusive
relationship has been identified as a time of particular danger and vulnerability for
women, with many suffering post-separation violence (Humphreys and Thiara, 2003).
Flasch et al. (2015) state there has been very little research into recovery process of
survivors following domestic abuse. She adds most literature focuses on the
immediate needs of women such as refuges and agencies focused on safety and crisis
management (Allen and Wozniak, 2010). Tjaden and Thoennes (2000) argue it is well
documented that survivors can often endure long lasting trauma from abuse that can
be both physical and mental that have negative career and educational outcomes with
an increased risk of experiencing additional abusive relationships. Allen and Wozniak
(2010) stipulate that recovery after an abusive relationship is ‘a social, spiritual, cultural, and psychological process.’ (2010, p.37).