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Disabled women escaping abuse – mobility and transport

Every woman’s journey to escape domestic abuse is unique, and many will not include formal services in their help-seeking. Responses should always aim to respect women’s rights and needs – and listen to their unique experiences.

But it can be useful to generalise – to some extent – to recognise shared experiences and similarities and differences. There are some commonalities, for example for older women, for women with or without children, for disabled women. Particular groups of women are less likely to use particular types of services – or less likely to seek formal help (or more likely to be turned away if they do).

Over 10% of women in the administrative data in this research were disabled. This includes being disabled in a wide range of ways – as well as by inadequate and inappropriate responses to their needs. Nearly 15,000 of the women who accessed support services due to domestic violence were recorded as disabled.

They may be disabled because of the abuse from the perpetrator – due to the impact on their physical or mental health.

In this research, Parveen was temporarily disabled by having broken her leg whilst staying in temporary accommodation: she had become trapped in a bathroom and was unable to summon any help, so ended up jumping out of a window. Beyond the typical difficulties of a train journey with a broken leg, she talked about how she was unable to reassure her one-year-old daughter by having her on her lap:

“I was on two crutches, so it was very difficult. My daughter wanted to be on my lap all the time, but I couldn’t – and I had bags and everything.”

When she arrived at her destination she was entirely dependent on being met:

“I didn’t see anyone at the train station – so the train staff helped me, and I was in a wheelchair. And then the refuge staff came after about five minutes.”

Many women have multi-stage journeys, and this research showed that journey segments by disabled women were significantly more likely to be by private transport rather than either public transport or the help of others (see the graph below), suggesting that disabled women who manage to escape abusive partners may need to have such independence.

This may reflect the additional barriers to disabled women’s mobility – such as difficulties in using public transport – and the independence necessary for their escapes.

In this research, Maud talked about how she felt her car was essential:

“I need transport because I’m not well – I can’t stand at a bus stop, I can’t stand at a train station; even if I’m sitting down the cold gets into me and I can’t move – because of the arthritis. So – I have to have a car – it’s not that I’m spoilt, it’s a necessity – it’s part of me, a car!”

Disabled women should not be assumed to be more dependent and needy – in fact, they are no more or less likely to self-refer to services than other women. But they are more likely to have longer engagement with services – being significantly more likely to stay in a service for 6 months or more. And services need to be responsive to their needs – there are only a few services which specifically respond to the needs of disabled women – like Stay Safe East, which is run by and for disabled people.

The wilful ignorance of a policy mismatch

Government often talks about evidence-based policy.

– and calls for further evidence and research from those who argue that policies or laws need to be changed.

But part of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 is a classic example of Government ignoring existing evidence – evidence that was presented to them in the consultation on developing the Act – and setting law and policy up to fail.

– to fail the tens of thousands of women and children who cross local authority boundaries to escape domestic violence and abuse.

As this research shows, the harms and losses caused by the perpetrator of domestic violence and abuse are often further compounded by how the state chooses to respond:

the services it does/doesn’t provide
the capacity and location of those services
the eligibility for those services – which often focuses on location

Despite the evidence Government received on the domestic violence journeys across local authority boundaries, it chose to devolve the duties in Part 4 of the Act to provide services and safe accommodation to Tier 1 local authorities. It chose to create a mismatch between the scale of service responses, and the functional scale that women and children actually need – and deserve.

In a new podcast conversation, the problems and harms that follow from this are explored – including the cliff-edges created at local authority boundaries that women and children frequently fall off.

And the problems are rendered invisible at the national scale by the lack of data that crosses these boundaries. Both needs assessments and provision decisions are confined within local authorities, and the data that used to exist England-wide (and which is used in this Journeyscapes research) is no longer aggregated nationally and made available for research or to inform policy. It is a wilful ignorance of the impact of devolving service responsibilities to the wrong scale.

As the podcast highlights:

“the losses and the harms that are caused by the abuser in intimate partner violence, are being compounded by the losses and the harms which are caused by the state.”

Stuck in limbo

Women and children’s journeys to escape domestic violence and abuse can be long, slow and difficult. The Women’s Journeyscapes research provides evidence of the long distances travelled, the multiple stages, and the complexities of time on the move.

It is also an issue of control: women often have very little control over when and where they move and whether they can resettle.

Beyond the force of the abuse from the perpetrator, there is the force of the systems and agencies women and children have to access for help and support; and they can find themselves forced to relocate more often than they need to, and forced to stay put when they need to relocate.

Women and children may access a women’s refuge, and benefit from the specialist and peer support there… but then find that they get stuck in limbo – unable to move on because of the lack of suitable housing and support.

This not only stalls their recovery journey, it means they are taking up a space in a refuge that another family desperately needs.

Women’s Aid’s latest annual audit estimates that more referrals to women’s refuges in England are turned away than those which are able to be accepted; with 11,305 women[1] supported in a refuge and 17,028 referrals declined in 2023-24.

And this is in a context where Women’s Aid records that actual refuge spaces have increased (from 3,935 in 2019-20 to 4,551 in 2023-24). However, they note that the vacancies recorded on the Routes to Support system have decreased in the same period: from 10,340[2] to 7,550)…

So, what’s going on?

A significant factor is women and children staying longer in refuges…. Not just because they need to, but because of a lack of options to leave: being stuck in limbo.

The Women’s Journeyscapes research used administrative data from 2003-2011 to devise a formula for the types and capacity of domestic abuse services needed, and found a mean length of stay in accommodation services of 3.4 months. This would mean that one refuge room/flat could accommodate over 3.2 families per year. Stays were longer in London – nearly 6 months – so that only 2 families a year could be supported in a London refuge space. However, the latest figures from Women’s Aid show how much worse the situation has become, with the mean length of stay approaching 5 months – and individual women may stay much longer. Longer stays reduce the capacity of the refuges around the country – down to below 2.5 families per refuge space per year.

No wonder the vacancies available are going down – cutting off an option for escape and support to thousands of women and children trying to leave domestic violence each year.

More refuge spaces – providing specialist and peer support for women and children – are desperately needed; as well as a whole infrastructure of other kinds of support. But we also need timely housing options for moving on from women’s refuges, so that women and children can resettle and rebuild their lives after abuse.

[1] Women’s Aid 2025, Table. C10. Page 75

[2] Women’s Aid 2025, Table. C6. Page 74

Women’s Aid. (2025) The Annual Audit 2025, Bristol: Women’s Aid. https://www.womensaid.org.uk/annual-audit-2025/

Cheers to a New Life! – Think Happy!

Every year the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25^th November) is linked to International Human Rights Day (10^th December) via the internationally-recognised “16 days of activism”.

It’s a tough reminder of the extent of violence against women – and the ongoing struggle for women’s rights as human rights.

During these 16 days it can be painful to be thinking about the level of abuse and violence, and the consequences for each woman, and for society as a whole.

We can feel overwhelmed.

So it’s vital also to see these days as days of activism against abuse and inequality – and to focus on the positives and the achievements.

As part of this project on women’s journeys away from abuse, women took part in participatory photography groupwork in London. Over weekly sessions, participants used their photography and captions to communicate their experiences, producing images, maps and collages for themselves, for the group, for display in women’s services, and for wider presentation through the research.

One of the strongest messages they wanted to share – amongst themselves and to wider audiences – was their positive experiences of escaping abuse.

Women shared images of celebrating a new start, of what made them happy, and photographs of inspiring signs they saw:

Time to be wise
Think Happy
Today is your lucky day

This short video shows some of their images of positive messages to encourage other women escaping abuse.

Here There and Everywhere

However much women try to stay put and stay safe from domestic abuse, the threat of the abuser often means that they have to relocate. They are forced into journeys of escape – whether to friends or family, or to an unknown place.

Anywhere they can find some safety.

Women use all kinds of forms of transport in their journeys – they may be hiding in plain sight amongst everyone else on public transport, or in their own car, trying to concentrate on the route and fearful of the destination.

As part of this project on women’s journeys, participatory photography was carried out with groups of women in three areas of London: two groups in women’s refuges where women would soon be on the move again, and one at a women’s centre with women who were beginning to resettle. Over weekly sessions, participants used their photography and captions to communicate their experiences, producing images, maps and collages for themselves, for the group, for display in women’s services, and for wider presentation through the research.

This short video shows some of their images of different means of transport, and different signposts on the way.

Images and captions by women on the move due to domestic abuse show their experiences and insights on ‘Transport yourself to a better place’
© Amy, Carol, Cordelia, Daisy, Lucy, Marilyn, Sarah, Shalom/Solace Women’s Aid/Janet Bowstead

Cordelia had come to London to escape abuse, and saw the plentiful public transport as a positive way of feeling in control – of starting to settle in a new place. She said,

“When I first came to London I used to – because I didn’t know the area – I’d just get on any bus and travel around so that I could learn the city.”

A message she spotted on the side of a bus became a message for her life – used as the title of the video:

“Transport yourself to a better place. I just really liked the message because that’s what a lot of us do. I kind of like, you know, I’ve always transported myself – Here There and Everywhere.”

Amy highlighted the signs and signposts on her travels around London, like the contrast between a way seeming to be blocked – “No Exit” – and a positive route forward – “Way Out”.

She said, “I was thinking about how much I hid for so long and didn’t signal anything”, but that now she had received support from a women’s centre as a way out of the violence and abuse.

Maps and signposts – like the London A-Z, and arrows and finger posts – are welcomed as a positive help – and an opportunity. As Daisy said:

“We have a signpost! Any way you want to go!”

Serious Games – Journeyscape or Journeybreak?

The women’s journeys card game developed as part of this research will be played in a workshop session this Friday at an international geography conference. Players will attempt to navigate journey stages and distances away from abuse, towards settled accommodation in a safe location. On the way, they will face the ‘chance’ elements that can allow them to leap forward or fall back on their journey.

It is part of a session on “Serious Games” at the RGS-IBG Conference in London.

“Serious games” use the interactions and norms of games – from playing cards or board games to online gaming – to engage and inform in ways that other methods cannot. They may be used in policy contexts to involve decision-makers in addressing problems, in practice contexts to encourage professionals to deepen their understanding and in teaching contexts to generate insights and empathy.

They are still games: fun and entertainment, even competitiveness, are important, but the games also address serious issues and aim to achieve real world outcomes. The goal is not the game itself, but the discussion and potential action that follow.

Serious Games are used to involve participants in thinking about a wide range of difficult issues: examples can be found from migration, to health, to forestry.

Games in the session address a wide range of geographical issues from mapping flood recovery to tackling racist narratives and hateful messages, from mapping journeys for women escaping domestic violence to system mapping future access to fruit and vegetables, and to mapping journeys in the USA to access abortion.

Serious and difficult topics – and the workshop provides the opportunity for manageable debates and respectful interactions by using the method of “Serious Games”.

What can employers do (including about the abusers)?

Relocation disrupts so many aspects of anyone’s life.

Even if it’s a chosen and planned relocation, there will be changes and admin: things you can no longer access, as well as positive new opportunities.

Forced relocation – when the only way to escape domestic abuse is to uproot your life and go away – is usually massively disruptive… in terms of leaving behind or losing friends, possessions, college, work, school, hopes and dreams….

Work is a big factor for many women – whether they can be honest with their employer, whether they can expect any help or understanding. Large employers may be able to arrange transfers and support, so that a woman can retain or resume her career once she is in a safer place away from the abuse. All employers can do something to support – to reduce the risks from the abuser, and to reduce the losses and costs.

This has long been recognised by some employers, and is increasingly championed by organisations such as the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA), which is free to join for all employers prepared to take effective action on domestic abuse.

This builds on decades of work by some employers, but patchy responses by others.

And it is notable that the focus seems to be primarily on what employers can do to “care for employees affected by domestic abuse”.

This is all well and good… but perpetrators are employees too. What are employers doing about perpetrators?

Often not enough.

EIDA talks about “providing education and support to help perpetrators of domestic abuse to stop” – but employers could often be more proactive about identifying perpetrators in their employ, taking action, and actively creating a culture where the attitudes behind such abusive behaviour are simply not acceptable. The most recent government report in 2021 found that whilst 66% of the employers who responded had a company policy on domestic abuse, only 20% addressed perpetrators.

Employers have had policy, procedure and guidance on responding to domestic violence and abuse for decades – but there’s still a lot that could be improved. An early example – from London Borough of Greenwich in 1997 – does give significant focus to the employer’s role towards perpetrators (not just victim-survivors). It offers guidance on assessing relevance and appropriateness of job duties, considering misuse of access to information, and issues of bringing the employer into disrepute.

Re-reading the guidance 27 years on highlights how many more recent employers’ initiatives still don’t focus enough on the cause of the problem: the abusers.

Time to be wise – Think Happy

Women in the creative groupwork for this research produced images and captions –messages for other women they imagined making domestic violence journeys in the future – wanting to encourage and inspire them in their journeys from abuse to freedom.

Many of their images were of slogans and messages they spotted – that spoke to them.

They might be in the middle of difficulties and uncertainties – but sometimes a positive message they spotted cheered them up.

And they wanted to share the images – to help other women in their progress on their journeys away from violence and abuse: and towards freedom.

Time to be wise. © Daisy/Solace Women’s Aid/Janet Bowstead

Think Happy. © Marilyn/Solace Women’s Aid/Janet Bowstead

Many more images and captions are in the report from this research.

Steps forward to a better life

A picture can tell a powerful story – a way for women’s voices to be heard.

Their journeys had often been long – difficult – and they faced further relocation and uncertain futures.

Many of the image stories were about the small steps – but also about the sense of progress.

Sarah celebrated her new life with her two sons – safe away from the abuser – and recognised the steps forward they were taking. She emphasised that it was not just a new life…. but a better life for them all.

Steps forward to a better life, full of love, wealth and smiles all round

Many more images and captions are in the report from this research.

You can’t walk over us no more

Women in the creative groupwork for this research produced images and captions for other women they imagined making domestic violence journeys in the future – wanting to encourage and inspire them in their journeys from abuse to freedom.

Sarah celebrated her life with her two sons – safe away from the abuser.

When four becomes three!

She poignantly and powerfully combined her and her sons’ hands and shoes – showing how strong they were together now.

© Sarah/Solace Women’s Aid/Janet Bowstead

Her message to the abuser was:

You can’t walk over us no more

Her message to herself and her sons was:

We’re in power because 3 Beats 1

A picture can tell a powerful story – a way for women’s voices to be heard. Many more images and captions are in the report from this research.