Home is Where the Hurt is

For International Women’s Day 2026, Refuge launched Home is Where the Hurt is, a multi channel campaign designed to expose the hidden realities of domestic abuse in the home and mobilise public support to end it.

Centred on the chilling statistic that home is the most dangerous place for a woman (UN, 2024), the campaign was anchored by a powerful hero film that subverted familiar ‘house tour’ content popularised by property influencers. Viewers were guided through an aspirational suburban home that appears perfect at first glance, until subtle and unsettling signs of abuse emerge - slowly revealing the everyday ways domestic abuse can be perpetrated behind closed doors.

Supported by talent led awareness activity and a high profile activation outside Parliament, the campaign translated awareness into action by inviting the public to sign an open letter calling on the government to close the £55.5 million funding gap facing domestic abuse accommodation services.

The campaign significantly exceeded all targets. Refuge secured hundreds of media mentions, saw a significant uplift in social media followers, and generated thousands of sign-ups to its open letter. Almost three times the initial income target was raised within 4 weeks, with strong indicators of longer term value through higher-than-average regular gift sign-ups.

Despite launching during the start of a major international conflict, Home is Where the Hurt is cut through by combining emotionally resonant storytelling with visible real world action, demonstrating the power of integrated communications to educate and galvanise public support on domestic abuse.