Stop the bruising

Fact: a woman is beaten on average 35 times before she contacts the police

Every day at Refuge we see the bruises. The cut lips. The broken bones.

‘He dragged me up the stairs by my hair.’ ‘The beating was so severe I couldn’t open my eyes for a week.’

Stop the Bruising For many women in the UK this is a way of life. Day after relentless day of being punched, kicked and stamped on. As if the physical violence wasn’t enough, the emotional abuse is just as deeply scarring.

‘He controlled my life, he totally cut me off from my friends.’

‘He would go through my things – don’t wear that skirt, it makes you look disgusting.’

How is this allowed to continue?

Domestic violence is allowed to continue because society turns a blind eye. We mustn’t interfere, it’s a ‘domestic’. We’ve also come to believe that it only happens in deprived areas. Not in my street. With 1 woman in 4 experiencing domestic violence at some point in her life, it’s very possible you’ll know someone who is affected. A friend? A colleague? A sister?

Help stop the fear with funding

Nowhere to go. Petrified he’ll come after her and the children. Ashamed the secret’s out. Thousands of women are living in constant fear for their lives. We need funding to enable women to escape the horrors of abuse. We need funding to offer protection. We need funding to stop domestic violence. Please, don’t ignore it. Make a donation today.

Your donation will help:

Run life saving services which support more than 900 women and children on any one day
Employ community workers to visit women in their homes – helping them to keep safe and regain control of their lives, whilst providing counselling and psychologicial support
Fund sessions to help children overcome the trauma of witnessing or experiencing violence
Lobby and campaign to ensure the voices of abused women and children are heard