Content warning: contains descriptions of domestic abuse

There are no refuge spaces available in the whole of Greater Manchester, and England falls short of the Council of Europe’s minimum recommendation of refuge spaces (by 1,366).

Imagine you are living with an abusive partner who controls all of your essential living costs - food, child support, the roof over your head. Fleeing from this situation could mean swapping one life-threatening circumstance for another.

Almost three quarters of women living with an abuser have said that the cost of living has either “prevented them from leaving, or made it harder to leave”, Women’s Aid report. Women are being forced to choose between remaining with an abusive partner indefinitely, and destitution. 

So much of domestic abuse relies on financial control. Rachel, whom the Manchester Evening News spoke with, says the reason she was able to leave her violent partner was because her boss paid for her to rent a flat. A lot of these victims also have children to worry about, making leaving a place of financial and domestic security even more difficult.

The cost of living hikes are also having a "devastating" impact on refuge services who are trying to absorb costs rather than pass them onto vulnerable residents.

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