No room at refuges for 1,000 fleeing families

One thousand women and children have been turned away from refuges in the past six months, figures show.

Women’s refuges across the country have had their budgets cut by nearly a quarter in the last seven years, despite the number of domestic violence cases reported to police rising by a third.

Many of the 40 refuge managers surveyed by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism said they were forced to turn away women with physical disabilities, mental health problems or because they had too many children with them.