We received information from 27 groups. These refuge staff received calls from 189 women . The groups reported they could not accommodate 16 women who desperately needed to flee from the violence they were experiencing. Women's Aid, according to the 1996 British Crime Survey self-report study, are contacted by only three percent of those who report domestic violence to crime survey researchers. Fleeing one's home because of domestic violence is rarely placed in a context of crime prevention.
Refuge provision is overstretched.
Budgets are inadequate. There is virtually no flexibility in terms of moving on in the current shortage of affordable, social housing. Relate agreed to participate in the count. We received information from 75 of 96 Centres in England, and a count for Northern Ireland. The results give us much food for thought.