Refuge is the largest specialist provider of gender-based violence services in the country supporting over 6,500 women and children on any given day. Refuge opened the world’s first refuge in 1971 in Chiswick, West London and 47 years later, provides: a national network of 46 refuges, community outreach programmes, child support services, and acts as independent advocates for those experiencing domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence. We also run specialist services for survivors of modern slavery, ‘honour’-based violence, and female genital mutilation. In partnership with Women’s Aid, Refuge provides the National Domestic Violence Helpline which receives hundreds of calls a day.
