Nearly 60% of women accessing domestic abuse support services have children and one in 15 are pregnant, according to a new report.
Yet domestic abuse services are struggling to cope with demand because of continuing funding uncertainty and budget cuts, Women's Aid has warned.
Its annual Domestic Abuse Report, released to coincide with Mother’s Day, found one in 10 refuges and one in five community-based services received no local authority funding in 2017/18
It found that a third of domestic abuse services had been forced to reduce the amount of support they provide in the last five years.
Amna Abdullatif of Women’s Aid said: 'Domestic abuse services provide a vital lifeline to mothers and their children who are living in fear and experiencing abuse.
'However, these life-saving services are facing funding uncertainties and budget squeezes which means they are unable to meet demand and have been forced to reduce the amount of support they can provide to families.'
