Save Exeter Women’s Refuge!

Devon City Council has recently announced that it will be withdrawing funding from the Exeter Women’s Refuge SAFE (Stop Abuse For Everyone). This has been met with a strong student campaign protesting the closure of the refuge.

If you haven’t seen it yet, the leaders of the campaign have been taking photographs of students holding up their signs, in an effort to put pressure on Devon City Council and raise awareness of the issue.

The Exeter Refuge has a consistently high occupancy rate of 96%, and statistics from Devon and Cornwall police departments show that 24% of reports of crime in Devon are domestic violence incidents.

As if this wasn’t a difficult enough situation, the Refuge’s new Wiltshire based supplier will not be supplying provision from the 1^st of April.

Students have started a social media campaign by creating an online petition and Facebook groups to raise awareness of the issue.

A recent message from the students running the campaign said, “We’re trying to keep Exeter Women’s Refuge open; it’s a really important resource for victims of domestic abuse in Exeter.”

Links to sign the petition and join the Facebook group are below.

Sign the petition:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Devon_county_council_Save_Exeter_Refuge/?aoacvdb

Join the Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/studentssavewomensrefuge/info