Women living with abusive partners will be fearing for their safety as new lockdowns come into force across the UK.

Their abuser may be monitoring their phone and internet access, isolating them from friends and family, and making it difficult to reach out for support.

We want to make sure women facing domestic abuse know that there are safe ways to contact Refuge – can you help us get the message out there?

 Here are three ways to get support

• Call our free Helpline on 0808 2000 247 – The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is open 24/7 and staffed by highly trained female advisers. They’ll listen, and offer confidential information and support. If English isn’t the caller’s first language, we have translators available.
• Request a call back via our Helpline website – Complete our quick web form to tell us when it will be a safe time for one of our Helpline team to call you. We’ll phone at the time you tell us.
• Talk to an adviser online using live chat – Go to our website and click ‘Contact us online’ to chat to an adviser via instant messaging. This service is open Monday to Friday 3pm-6pm.

On top of those three services, our tech abuse safety tool gives step-by-step instructions for how to use your smartphone safely if someone is worried their partner might be monitoring it.

We’ve also put together specific advice for women experiencing domestic abuse during the pandemic. It explains how to recognise abuse, get help in an emergency (call 999), protect yourself at home and plan a safe escape. Read our COVID-19 safety tips >>

Together, we can make sure women experiencing domestic abuse know they have somewhere to turn in the weeks and months ahead.