Refuge is committed to a world where domestic violence and violence against women and girls is not tolerated and where women and children can live in safety.
We aim to empower women and children to rebuild their lives, free from violence and fear. We provide a range of life-saving and life-changing services, and a voice for the voiceless.
Refuge opened the world’s first safe house for women and children escaping domestic violence in Chiswick, West London, in 1971.
Women and children flocked to our doors because, for the first time, someone was saying it was wrong to beat your partner. Back then, domestic violence was seen as a “private matter”, to be dealt with “behind closed doors”. Society turned a blind eye.
Since 1971, Refuge has led the campaign against domestic violence. We have grown to become the country’s largest single provider of specialist domestic and gender-based violence services. Now we support over 6,000 women and children on any given day.
Refuge prides itself on the high quality of its services. Refuge has developed its own bespoke casework management tool, IMPACT, which has a built-in outcomes framework. IMPACT means we can demonstrate – at the touch of a button – exactly what each client has achieved with specialist support from Refuge, from when they first enter the service to when they exit.
Thanks to Refuge’s extensive data, we know that:
- 96% of our clients report feeling safer at the point of leaving our service
- 92% say their quality of life has improved
- 76% see an end to all physical abuse
- For every £1 invested in Refuge’s specialist services, a woman, her family and society at large reaps a social reward equivalent to £4.94
