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The methods employed by women's charities to try and steer things in a different direction are vast. Nia, for example, is one of the only organisations with services built on feminist values. "As feminists we recognise that power imbalances exist between individuals and groups," says Smith. "Not just according to sex, but race, class and other forms of inequality, too. When we talk about empowerment, we understand that inequality limits choice and life chances. Our services are designed to address the results of these other forms of inequality, too."Empowerment is a key word. Smith tells me that nia's research has shown that abused women are more likely to become abusive and commit crimes themselves, so they developed Safe Choices – a service that approaches young women likely to violently offend before they've done so.More and more, it seems like women's rights activists and independent charities aren't just the ones uncovering the reality of violence against women – they're the ones dealing with it.
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I spoke to a woman who wishes to remain anonymous who explained that, in fact, the reality was very different to what she'd feared. "I visited a women's refuge for two days over Christmas. I was worried at first, thinking, 'Would I be welcomed?' In the end, I didn't feel awkward at all." And neither should she have. In the UK it isn't illegal to exclude trans women from spaces for women only, but women's charities work to the law: trans women are women.Without viable refuge options, many women are becoming homeless in order to leave partners, or end up staying with their abusers. In 2014 the most high-profile murders of women – Maria Stubbings, Clare Wood and Casey Brittle – took place in their own home.
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