A woman is safer down a dark alley than she is in her own home.

It is a stark truth, long backed up by facts – but despite one in four women experiencing domestic abuse, new data from Refuge exposes wide gaps in the public’s understanding of this ‘national emergency’.

More than two million women suffered domestic abuse in the year to March 2025. In the same period, 75 women were killed by a current or former partner, with even more victims taking their own lives.

Additionly, more than seven times as many women are killed by a current or former partner than by a stranger.

However, the poll, conducted by YouGov on behalf of the charity, shows that most UK adults still believe home is where women feel safest.

While more than half of UK adults (57%) acknowledged that women are most at risk behind closed doors, 85% believe most people feel safe in their own home.

When asked where women are most commonly abused, 14% cited outdoor public spaces such as parks, 10% said in the street, 5% said on public transport, 4% suggested in the workplace, while 10% were unsure.

The most common form of domestic abuse experienced by victims in the last year was emotional abuse by a partner or ex-partner.

Most often taking the form of coercive control, it can include threats, humiliation, manipulation, ‘gaslighting’, intimidation, isolation and generally monitoring or controlling the victim’s day-to-day life.

This Is Not Right

On November 25, 2024 Metro launched This Is Not Right, a campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.

With the help of our partners at Women’s Aid, This Is Not Right aims to shine a light on the sheer scale of this national emergency.

You can find more articles here, and if you want to share your story with us, you can send us an email at vaw@metro.co.uk.

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Refuge’s survey also highlights gaps in awareness around how abuse is evolving inside the home.

Four in 10 adults (42%) say they have heard nothing about abusers monitoring, manipulating, or controlling someone through technology such as smart devices, while only a small minority (6%) report knowing a lot.

Refuge says domestic abuse is a crisis hiding in plain sight and is seeking to confront it head-on with a powerful new campaign.

Home is Where the Hurt is subverts the familiar ‘house tour’ content often seen from estate agent influencers, gradually revealing subtle but unsettling signs of abuse.

Gemma Sherrington, CEO of Refuge, said: ‘Too often we are taught to fear strangers, when the reality is that the most dangerous place for a woman is often her own home.

‘This survey shows a public belief in safety that masks a deadly truth. Abuse happens behind closed doors – and for too many women, it is fatal.

‘Our campaign is shining a light on these hidden harms, and the fact specialist services like ours need urgent, sustained funding to support survivors and, ultimately, save lives.’

Refuge Ambassador Sharon Gaffka said: ‘I hope this campaign helps people recognise the warning signs of abuse in their communities and empowers more women to seek help.

‘No woman should ever feel unsafe in her own home.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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DEAR ABBY: I am having a baby in five months. My doctor is recommending that anyone who visits the baby in the first three months be up to date on vaccines (Tdap, flu, COVID and RSV, if age 60-plus). We have decided to follow our doctor’s recommendations. 

Some of my family members are resistant to getting these vaccines and want us to consider other options, like testing and wearing a mask, which is not as safe. Also, it would be hard for younger kids to do — my niece is 3. Abby, we vaccinated our young children (3 and 5) at the time when our niece was born, as part of what my sister requested. 

I am already stressed about this situation and do not want to talk it to death with my family, and I have grown resentful because of it. In the past, I have set boundaries with my family, and most of them have not been understood or received well. Can you offer me some guidance? — EXPECTING IN WASHINGTON

DEAR EXPECTING: I am happy to try. When your baby arrives, the responsibility for its welfare will rest mostly on you, the mother. Follow your doctor’s medical advice to protect your child. If family members don’t want to respect your wishes and do what they must to avoid endangering your baby (as you did for them), realize you can’t change their minds, and keep your distance for the first three months. 

DEAR ABBY: For nearly five years, my adult daughter was a domestic violence victim. My husband and I have done everything to support her freedom and new path. However, during her journey, she claimed that I had been abusive to her as a child. I do not recall any action I took that could be considered abusive, nor does my husband or her siblings. 

I am finding it difficult to rationalize her recollection of events when she didn’t recognize her recent relationship was abusive. Anyhow, I’ve recommended individual and group therapy. However, I have not admitted to any abuse because it didn’t happen. We all feel she’s projecting her anger and resentment from this recent relationship onto me because I was honest from the beginning that I saw red flags. We had candid conversations about the offender prior to the separation. But she keeps defending him and blaming me for having inflicted pain and suffering on her. 

Please tell me what you suggest I do to resolve this situation, as it is destroying our family. — DUMBFOUNDED IN DELAWARE

DEAR DUMBFOUNDED: Your daughter appears to be a troubled individual. I’m glad that you suggested therapy. The kind I would recommend would be family therapy, in which every member has a chance to air their “truths.” When someone in an abusive relationship attempts to deflect blame from their abuser onto someone else, they may be avoiding reality. A licensed psychotherapist could help put your daughter back on the right track.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.