The Duchess of Cornwall poses with Home Secretary Priti Patel (left) and guests during a reception at Clarence House in London to mark 50 years of Refuge
(Picture: Getty Images)The Duchess of Cornwall has called for domestic abuse campaigners to carry on their vital work, after an explosion in demand for specialist services during the pandemic.
As the charity Refuge commemorates its 50th anniversary, Camilla spoke on Tuesday of her hope in using the milestone to further efforts “towards a world where women and children can live in safety, free from fear”.
Despite huge strides in raising awareness and access to services, two women a week are killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales, while one in four women will be affected by domestic abuse in their lifetime.
Welcoming 70 women from across the worlds of politics, broadcasting and the charity sector to a reception at Clarence House, the Duchess said that while attitudes towards the crime have changed enormously during the last century, so have the perpetrators’ methods.
Campaigners have seen a 118 per cent increase in stalking and coercive control abuse during the last two years, directly from a new wave of technology based offending.
Emma Pickering, tech abuse team lead for Refuge, said: “The ways in which perpetrators are carrying out abuse is ever increasing.
“We are seeing more intricate ways of following, stalking and harassing victims - from remote following of Netflix accounts, Tesco Clubcards, internet IP address tracking, the threats are real and it’s not just women who are at risk.
“The risk to children is on the increase.
“From games console tracking to apps that parents might not be familiar with, there are serious and increasing dangers evolving every day.
“Since the pandemic we have seen a 130 per cent increase in tech based abuse, with the emergence of ever more sophisticated devices used to track, follow and record.
“We’ve seen examples of recording and listening devices being concealed in air fresheners, teddy bears and household items, some so small you wouldn’t see them and with battery lives of up to six months.
“All this increases the risk and threat to both women and children.
“We’ve seen victims have their Wi-Fi compromised to remotely lock doors, thereby imprisoning victims in their own homes and trackers on everything from cars to mobile phones.
“The tech companies also bear a responsibility to each and every victim out there and we are working hard to establish relationships with them to ask us for guidance when they are developing new technologies, but it really is a never ending problem we are facing.”
Earlier in the day the Duchess visited the world’s first women’s refuge in Chiswick, which opened in 1971.
The refuge in west London was followed by the first in Edinburgh in 1973 and in 1974, over 40 refuges opened across the UK.
