Research and Reports

Research and Reports

All of our work is underpinned by a solid evidence base. Throughout the year we conduct research projects, support research in universities and publish data on key issues to ensure that we are leading the way in evidence and data on domestic abuse. Below are our most recent research reports.

For resources, leaflets, posters and t-shirts, visit the resource centre.

The Domestic Abuse Report is a series published by Women’s Aid that brings together the most comprehensive set of data on domestic abuse in the country.

Our Nowhere to Turn series draws on findings from Women’s Aid’s No Woman Turned Away (NWTA) project. The NWTA has been funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) since 2016, and supports survivors who face barriers and structural inequalities when searching for a refuge space.

Change That Lasts Reports detail the awareness raising activities and support provided by ambassadors and professionals.

The Connect Centre for International Research on Interpersonal Violence and Harm have produced this briefing paper for survivors of domestic abuse from the evaluation of the Roadmap Programme for system change. It reports key messages from the evaluation for domestic abuse services and for those who use them.

The Connect Centre for International Research on Interpersonal Violence and Harm have produced this briefing paper for survivors of domestic abuse from the evaluation of the Roadmap Programme for system change. It reports key messages from the evaluation for domestic abuse services and for those who use them.

Economic abuse is often misunderstood but it is a key tactic used by perpetrators of domestic abuse to control their partner and stop her from leaving.

Funding life-saving specialist domestic abuse support services, will cost £393 million per year. This investment would be a fraction of the estimated £66 billion annual cost to society. Women’s Aid examines the cost of fulfilling the commitment to delivering a Statutory Duty on local authorities to fund refuge services and sustainable funding for wider specialist domestic abuse services.

Since our campaign began in 2016 we have been calling on the government, all family courts professionals, and involved agencies to make the family court process safer for women and children survivors of domestic abuse. We wanted an end to avoidable child deaths as a result of unsafe child contact with dangerous perpetrators of domestic violence, and to ensure that children are always put at the heart of contact decisions made by the family courts.

The purpose of this research was to ensure an evidence base for the design of education about relationships for children and young people (CYP), highlighting the positive influence that well structured Relationships, Sex and Health Education
(RSHE) programmes can have and to ultimately investigate ‘what works well’.

Women’s Aid have produced a number of short reports based on our surveys of survivors and services during the Covid 19 pandemic. These include our 2020 initial surveys looking at the impact of the first lockdown, and a series of briefings which look at the lasting impact of the pandemic.

This campaign is calling for greater recognition of the impact that domestic abuse has on the mental health of women and their children, and the importance of providing support that meets their needs. Research was conducted with a view to understanding what domestic abuse survivors want from mental health support, and what an effective response looks like.

Woman’s Aid have conducted research into UK adults’ attitudes to domestic abuse in order to better understand where and why domestic abuse is ‘tolerated’ in our society. Themes surrounding gendered experiences of justice and domestic abuse have been explored in relation to household roles, sexuality and intimate partner relationships and mental health. Our research adds to a wide body of literature on how sexism and misogyny set the scene for male violence against women.

Woman’s Aid has published key findings on domestic abuse services and the women and children they support. Themes surround access to support in relation to Covid-19, travel, refuges with information drawn from Routes to Support, the UK violence against women and girls service directory, and from On Track, which is Women’s Aid’s case management and outcomes monitoring system. 

The violence women experience from online abuse, stalking and harassment is completely unacceptable; the impact that this online abuse has on women’s lives has been underestimated by all statutory services. Women’s Aid believes that the responses that women victims of online abuse, harassment and stalking receive from the police, criminal justice system and social media providers are currently inadequate.

The APPG on Domestic Violence and Abuse conducts in-depth inquiries into key issues raised through APPG meetings. The inquiries include evidence submissions from survivors of domestic violence, domestic violence professionals, academics, politicians and charities.

As the cost of living crisis in the UK dominates political and media agendas, Women’s Aid needs to respond and influence from a position informed by the voices and experiences of survivors and members.

Live Data

Explore service provision across England with our new live data dashboards.

Click on the links below to view our live data dashboards:

Information on referrals to local services and the challenges they faced from the Women’s Aid Annual Surveys (2017 to 2019).

Information on service types and refuge spaces from snapshots taken from Routes to Support in May each year (from 2010).

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