Today, ONS figures have shown that shockingly 80 women were killed by a partner or ex-partner between April 2018 and March 2019, a 27% increase from the previous year. Under the current system survivors of domestic abuse in England are not automatically entitled to a safe home from their local council. Crisis has heard from women who have been left with no option but to return to their abuser or face homelessness because they have nowhere else to go.

Crisis is working with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ending Homelessness to call on the government to ensure that anyone fleeing domestic abuse is guaranteed a safe home in the forthcoming Domestic Abuse Bill.

Responding to the figures Hannah Gousy, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Crisis, said: “These figures are a devastating reminder of why it’s so important for women experiencing domestic violence to have somewhere safe to escape to, and how our continued failure to act is having fatal consequences.

“We know that leaving an abuser can be one of the most dangerous times, but currently we’re leaving women with no option but to return to the very place and person they were trying to flee from, because they have nowhere else to go. This is truly shameful, we can and must do better than this.

“The government must act now. The forthcoming Domestic Abuse Bill is the chance to fundamentally change one of the biggest barriers for people fleeing domestic abuse by guaranteeing survivors a safe, settled home. We cannot continue putting lives in danger.”

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https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/homicideinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2019