Huge rise in calls to domestic violence charity
BOSS MAKES PLEA FOR MORE REFUGES TO HELP HELP WOMEN ESCAPE ABUSE AMID LOCKDOWN SURGE
BOSSES at a domestic abuse charity have told how they had seen a huge rise in women calling them for help since the start of lockdown.
Councillor Sarah Judge, who runs Safe Spots in Wythenshawe, says they saw a 160 per cent increase in calls at the beginning of lockdown. Last month saw a 40pc rise in calls compared to normal.
One woman who has turned to Safespots for help, who the M.E.N. agreed to call Rachel, had suffered years of domestic violence at the hands of her husband. But when the country was placed into lockdown in March, her abusive relationship became a lot more frightening.
Before coronavirus, her husband would spend most of his day at work, giving her a break from the mental and physical abuse he subjected her to daily. After he began working from home, the abuse became dangerously more frequent, to the point she knew she had to leave him.
Rachel is among hundreds of woman living in south Manchester and beyond, who have contacted the charity since lockdown began in March.
Rachel, which is not the woman’s real name, spoke to volunteers about how her husband would hit her, control her finances, and tell her how to behave.
Safe Spots discussed options with her around rehousing, but due to the ongoing pandemic, Rachel felt extremely nervous about the prospect of going into a refuge.
She wasn’t on the government shielding list, but felt very vulnerable as a result of the virus - leaving her trapped with her husband.
“She said she didn’t feel safe going into a refuge,” Coun Judge said. “She also had a job and they owned the property which they lived in, which makes it very difficult for a woman to seek refuge.
“At the time, there weren’t any private lets happening so she was literally stuck, there were no options for her to safely get out.”
Thanks to the dedication of the team at Safe Spots, Rachel was able to view a flat online, and has since left her husband for good.
As lockdown has began to ease, Coun Judge says more and more women, like Rachel, will need to flee abusive relationships. But the provisions aren’t there.
“A lot of people felt they were stuck with their perpetrator and felt they couldn’t leave, whereas now they can get out more,” she said. “They can get access to services more easily and now these women are looking for somewhere to go.
“As always, refuge provision is scarce. From a Safe Spots perspective, there needs to be an increase in focus on what refuge provision is out there, and what support is available for these women.”
“We need to make sure those refuge centres have the absolute best provision to help women move on to the next stage of their life,” she added.
The picture is the same nationally, with domestic abuse charity Refuge, warning more and more women are seeking refuge to escape their abusers.
As well as a near doubling in the number of women contacting the helpline, Refuge says, the figures also show more needing to flee violent relationships. We’ve seen in the last couple of weeks an increase of 54pc of women wanting to access emergency accommodation,” spokeswoman Lisa King said.
Coun Judge says there needs to be more government funding for all domestic violence services, particularly if there is a second peak of coronavirus. Greater Manchester and other parts of the north west have already seen some lockdown measures reimposed, following a spike in cases.
“If there is a second peak, women will get put back into difficult situations and we will see a further demand for services,” Coun Judge said. “We know the government have put more funding in recently, but it often falls short of what is actually required.”
In a statement, the Home Office told the M.E.N. it had recognised early on the risks of a nationwide lockdown for victims of domestic abuse and focused on ensuring vital support services remained available.