Ten babies born into Women's Aid refuges last year

Ten children were born to women living in Women’s Aid refuges in Northern Ireland in the last year.

The charity supports women and children who have experienced domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women.

In 2023/24 over 800 women and children stayed in emergency accommodation refuges run by the charity throughout Northern Ireland, while 266 pregnant women were supported in the community.

Sarah Mason, the CEO of Women’s Aid Federation Northern Ireland, said the organisation is experiencing increasing demand for services across Northern Ireland.

“Sadly, these statistics are not surprising to us. Each year, Women’s Aid in Northern Ireland faces an ever-increasing demand for services as we work tirelessly to support women, children, and young people who have experienced abuse," Ms Mason said.

“Local services are working at full capacity to meet the needs of victims and survivors who need vital support," she said.

"Funding to increase capacity to deliver services continues to be a major issue that must be addressed if we truly want to effectively end violence against women in our society and create a community were women feel safe, and are safe, in their own homes.”

The latest police figures show a small increase in domestic abuse in Northern Ireland in 2023.

There were 33,071 incidents in 2023, an increase of 144 (0.4%) on the previous year.

In September the Executive Office launched an Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.

The same month the justice and health ministers launched a Domestic and Sexual Abuse strategy for Northern Ireland.

According to that strategy a domestic abuse incident is reported to police every 16 minutes and a sexual offence every two hours.

Rosie, not her real name, has spoken to the BBC about her experiences of domestic abuse as a child and as an adult.

When she was young her mother fled to a refuge with Rosie and her siblings.

“My home situation as a child was very toxic and abusive. Throughout my childhood I experienced a lot of violence both physical and sexual from a stepfather. Financial control was a factor for my mother in this relationship so it was hard for her to leave. We spent a short period of time in Women’s Aid refuge," Rosie said.

"My mother didn’t cope well with the shared spaces and having six children in an unfamiliar place - I imagine this brought her a lot of anxiety."

As an adult Rosie found herself in a violent relationship. Her partner stabbed and strangled her on one occasion, and eventually she received a restraining order.

“I’ve experienced intimate partner violence since I was a teenager when I met my child’s father," Rosie said.

"At the beginning it was subtle abuse, making comments about my clothes and how short my school uniform skirt would be, then it would escalate to smashing my phones, hitting me when drunk but being super apologetic the next day," she said.

"I had our son in my late teens and that’s when the abuse really escalated and became worse.”

She added: “I have thought about using refuges many times over the years. I fled Northern Ireland some years ago for Scotland, but my abuser came after me and continued the abuse and I came back home.”

Rosie again considered using a refuge more recently.

“I wanted to go back to Scotland," she said.

" Everyone I spoke with there was pleasant and I believe they were all trying to help with whatever resources they had but in order to gain refuge in temporary accommodation I was asked to give up my home in Northern Ireland and put all my stuff into storage.

"Personally this was a distressing thought as it meant I was giving up my only security net without having gained suitable permanent accommodation first, I was worried about my son’s schooling and we didn’t know how long we would have to be in the refuge.”

Rosie added: “I think it’s really shocking, considering how small Northern Ireland really is, that 10 children were born in refuges last year.

"The rate of violence in the country is rising massively and I don’t think it’s being treated as seriously as it should be."

She said: "Having a baby in normal circumstances can be very stressful but to have a baby in a refuge when your life feels like it’s upside down, I can only imagine is absolutely terrifying for the mother.”

Rosie wants to highlight the issues around violence against women but worries she’s just one more sad story.

She said she doesn't "think as a society we are tackling the issues well".

"To me it almost feels like it’s been normalised to an extent," Rosie said.

"When you hear of someone who’s been subjected to this type of abuse, obviously you think it’s horrific and awful and you feel saddened for the victim but it’s just another story of abuse in the long line of stories and it’s never ending.”

Six women have been murdered in Northern Ireland this year, in several of the cases the women were found dead in their own homes.

In all of the cases the police have arrested and charged men, most of those charged were known to the victims.