Refuge hope police reforms signal the “beginning of a future where women feel protected”

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  • Post last modified:14 July 2026

As of the 13 July, new regulations have come into effect for all police forces which will impact vetting procedures and suspensions. The government is rolling out the “complex and wide-ranging” rule change as part of its pledge to end violence against women and girls (VAWG). It follows a campaign from the charity Refuge, ‘Remove the Rot’, which kicked off in 2023 and subsequently found a “shocking scale of police-perpetrated VAWG” which meant women and girls could not trust the police to protect them. Refusing to allow there to be no place to turn for justice, the domestic abuse charity pushed…

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Refuge data reveals 78% rise in tech and economic abuse referrals

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  • Post last modified:9 July 2026

Refuge, the UK’s largest specialist domestic abuse charity, has recorded a staggering 78% rise in referrals for cases of technology-facilitated abuse and economic abuse. Of these cases, Refuge’s frontline team has observed a worrying increase in perpetrators exploiting car finance agreements, putting survivors in significant debt. Between April 2025-March 2026, there were 967 referrals to Refuge’s specialist Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment team, compared to 542 referrals in 2024 – 2025. Of the 2025-2026 referrals, 43% (414) survivors reported experiencing some form of economic abuse, compared to 37% (198) of survivors in 2024-2025. Economic abuse can take many forms, all of…

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