The phone rings less than it used to at the London Abused Women’s Centre. The calls that do come through are often quick and concerning, with women warning the support worker that if their abuser comes in from the backyard or gets out of the shower, they’ll have to hang up with little to no warning. “We do literally 10 seconds of safety planning, say call back whenever you can, and then they hang up,” says Megan Walker, the centre’s executive director.
She is worried, and you can hear it in her voice. Across the country, support centres and shelters are grappling with the same heartbreaking problem: how to help someone be safe when they have been told to isolate at home but their home isn’t safe.