Statutory agencies failing domestic abuse survivors, says new report

Statutory agencies are failing women experiencing domestic abuse, with poor knowledge of the complexities and dangers of abuse contributing to survivors being denied appropriate support, according to Women’s Aid.

The national domestic abuse charity has published its 10th Nowhere To Turn report, highlighting the barriers faced by women with additional support needs when trying to access refuge and safe accommodation.

The report, based on data from Women’s Aid’s No Woman Turned Away project, found more than 100 instances in which services either failed to provide support or provided incorrect or inappropriate support to survivors.

A quarter of statutory failings recorded in 2025 were linked to referrers having poor knowledge of domestic abuse.

Women’s Aid said the findings demonstrated the need for statutory agencies, including local authorities, to improve their understanding of domestic abuse and the specific barriers faced by survivors.

The charity’s No Woman Turned Away project supported more than 250 women to flee their abusers during the year. It helped 85% of survivors supported by the project to find housing, while an estimated 61% were safer at the end of the support provided.

However, a shortage of refuge spaces and move-on accommodation continues to leave women at risk. Four in 10 women supported by the project said they experienced further abuse while waiting for a refuge space, while 13.4% said they were too scared to go outside.

Women facing additional barriers were particularly likely to struggle to access suitable accommodation.

No refuges were able to accommodate women with male children aged over 14, resulting in 13 women and their children being denied a safe space. Women with children with disabilities also faced significant barriers, with only 14.3% being placed in refuge by the end of the support provided.

Women with mental health or substance use support needs and those with offending histories were also less likely than other survivors to find suitable refuge accommodation.

The report found that the number of survivors whose perpetrators used aspects of their identity as part of the abuse had more than doubled from 9.9% last year to 24.5%. Immigration status was the most common form of identity-based abuse, accounting for 59.7%, followed by religion at 30.6%.

Controlling and coercive behaviour was reported by 92.5% of women supported by the project, compared with 81.1% in 2024.

Women’s Aid said the findings highlighted the consequences when statutory services do not understand domestic abuse and its impact on survivors.

“Domestic abuse is a heinous crime and it is heartbreaking to see that so many extremely vulnerable women are struggling to access help and support. Without this, the stark reality is that these women’s lives, and those of their children, are in real danger. It is especially difficult to see that in many cases, women were failed by statutory agencies, often due to their lack of knowledge about the complexities and dangers of domestic abuse," Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, said.

“More must be done to ensure that local authorities who come into contact with vulnerable women receive mandated, specialist domestic abuse training to ensure that the rights of women are respected and protected.

“Domestic abuse is destructive and life-threatening and those most vulnerable in our society must receive the care and support owed to them.”

The charity is calling for local authorities and other statutory agencies working with vulnerable women to have access to specialist domestic abuse training.

Women’s Aid said improving knowledge among professionals is particularly important for women facing additional barriers to accessing refuge, including those with disabilities, mental health or substance use support needs, offending histories, no recourse to public funds, multiple children or older male children.

The report argues that without adequate specialist knowledge and sufficient safe accommodation, women can remain exposed to further abuse while attempting to leave their perpetrators.