Over the last few days, national media in the UK has been reporting on the difficulties faced by women who wish to access a refuge to escape an abusive partner. Across England, many refuges have been forced to close due to funding cuts. One source reports that ‘In 2010 there were a total of 149 specialist services providing 187 refuge services throughout England. By July 2014 this had changed to 112 specialist services providing 155 refuge services (The Telegraph, 04/09/14). Another newspaper, the Guardian, published a lengthy piece on refuge provision in August this year – the article can be viewed here The implications of this potential crisis are obvious and it is an area that we will be addressing in our recommendations for service provision across the EU.