By Rachel Shuter

No one should ever have to choose between having a roof over their head and personal safety.

Yet this is the devastating reality for thousands of domestic abuse survivors.

More than one in four women in England and Wales will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, and behind every number is a life in danger.

As the Senior Operations Manager at Refuge, the UK’s largest specialist domestic abuse charity, I’ve heard directly from survivors who say the fear of not knowing where they’ll go if they leave is so overwhelming, they feel they can’t escape.

Heartbreakingly, some family members who have lost loved ones to domestic homicide have told us they believe access to safe, suitable accommodation could have prevented the atrocities committed.

Housing is not just about shelter. It’s often a matter of life or death.

But accommodation alone does not equal safety. For many survivors, traditional communal refuge spaces can be........

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