A domestic violence charity has warned that the cost-of-living crisis will leave some women and their children feeling cold this Christmas.
The domestic violence agency Women’s Aid said the crisis has led to more “economic abuse.”
The charity has a 24-hour national toll-free helpline that will be open “all day, every day” over the Christmas period.
It said Christmas offers no “repair” for service users, as many women “walk on eggshells” during the holiday season and experience “sudden flashes of violence” against them and their children.
For women who have left their abusive relationships, Women’s Aid said Christmas can be used by their ex-partners to control and abuse them and their children.
Women’s Aid has heard of ex-partners who “withhold conversation, fail to honor visitation arrangements and use presents for the children as a bargaining tool”.
Women’s Aid chief executive Sarah Benson said the “abuse won’t stop before Christmas, but neither will we”.
“Often the abuse they endure is more frequent and more severe, with women disclosing that they have been assaulted, hospitalized, humiliated and called the most horrible names,” she said.
“Just because it’s holiday season doesn’t mean physical, emotional, sexual and economic abuse is going away.
“Women tell us that their ex-partners threaten to withhold money and presents from the children unless she does what he wants. Women are manipulated and controlled by their partners.”
Women’s Aid does not expect a spike in calls on Christmas Day, as many women will “work very hard to keep the peace” for their children. It said it is often the period after December 25 when the impact is known as the organization receives more calls.
Based on figures for 2021/2022, the helpline will receive 92 calls per day in December and rise to 108 calls in January – an increase of 17 percent.
The charity said these figures only reflect the “tip of the iceberg” as the “vast majority” of those experiencing domestic violence and abuse will never contact a specialist support organisation.
Manager of the Women’s Aid 24hr National Freephone Helpline, Linda Smith, said there is usually an increase in calls when the children go back to school in January.
“This may still not feel safe, as partners can still be present and monitor women’s movements and actions.
“We regularly get a number of calls where a woman is talking and all of a sudden, mid-sentence, the line rings or she just says I hear a key in the door. That happens all year round,” she said.
“The cost-of-living crisis exacerbates already difficult and abusive situations. Economic abuse has become more and more common lately and I suspect it will continue.
“Things like there may also have been restrictions on using power in the house, with the heating and so on – women may not be allowed to turn on the heating.
“So some women and their children are likely to spend Christmas in the cold. Women divorced from abusive partners are also feeling the effects of the cost-of-living crisis as their partner may be withholding child support to maintain a level of control despite the end of the relationship,” she added.