This story was originally published by Reasons to be Cheerful
On the day Noella finally took action against her abusive partner, she knew exactly where to go: the bank. “I walked into an HSBC U.K. bank branch, asked for a Safe Space, and was able to use a room, with a lovely lady supporting me, for a few hours while I made arrangements to get my abusive husband out of our family home so that my children and I could return safely,” says Noella.
“I can’t tell you how much of a difference the [Safe Space] scheme made to me. I felt deeply unsafe that day, and the scheme gave me protection and support, so that I could gather my strength and do what I needed to do for my children and myself.”
Noella (not her real name) is among the 241 people who used one of the 1,849 Safe Spaces in a U.K. bank between April and December 2024. An initiative of the U.K. domestic abuse support charity Hestia, Safe Spaces seeks to curb a problem that has been steadily increasing across the country over the past 10 years. Around 20 percent of people in the U.K. over age 16 have experienced domestic abuse in their lives, while around five percent say it’s happened in the past year — with women twice as likely to be victims than men.
Hestia’s idea for Safe Spaces was spurred by a 65 percent spike in the number of calls to the National Domestic Abuse helpline during 2020, when much of the country was in Covid-19 enforced lockdowns — but banks and pharmacies were among the few places people were still allowed to visit. At last count, there are a total of 4,449 Safe Spaces across the U.K.
Banks and pharmacies with a Safe Space advertise it in their window and designate a private room for use by those seeking support for domestic abuse. The room is usually equipped with a computer, phone and contact details for support organizations. Bank and pharmacy staff also receive safeguarding training so they’re able to spot and assist people seeking support.
On top of a Safe Space, U.K. bank TSB even offers an emergency “Flee Fund” of up to £500 (around $636) to help victims escape abusive relationships. Since launching in 2023, the fund has so far been accessed by 430 people — including 340 women, 24 men and a number of nonbinary individuals and those who prefer not to share their gender. Nearly half have fled with children.
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“What really solidified this idea for us was that, in the first three weeks of the first Covid lockdown in 2020, 14 women and three children were killed in the U.K. as a result of domestic abuse. One of the things we were hearing from our survivors is, ‘I don’t have anywhere to go,’ because they were being forced to stay at home with whoever was being abusive towards them, and they couldn’t reach out for support,” says Alessia Bianco, Hestia’s head of domestic abuse and sexual violence prevention.
“The model that we set up back in 2020 is very similar to the model in 2025. We know how isolating domestic abuse can be, so this might be the first time in a long time that someone’s been able to reach out. We’ve had people tell us they’ve contacted their manager because they haven’t been able to be at work for a period of time, or they’ve called their parents as they haven’t previously been able to.”
Safety without suspicion
Lockdown or not, banks and pharmacies are places that someone could realistically visit while running basic errands, and avoid arousing the suspicion of an abusive partner. That thinking is also behind the Safe Places initiative in the U.S. run by domestic violence support organization PurpleOne.
Similar to Safe Spaces in the U.K., Safe Places — everyday businesses like hair salons and grocery stores — display a PurpleOne sign in their window to let people know they can receive domestic violence support information and get connected to their local state-recognized domestic violence agency. Staff undergo training to help them recognize, respond to and refer victims of domestic violence. There are currently around 1,500 Safe Places across the U.S.
Hestia’s Bianco recalls a situation in which running an everyday errand made all the difference to a domestic abuse victim the organization worked with. The woman was out with her husband, and told him she needed to visit Boots, a popular U.K. drugstore, to buy him a Christmas present. She asked him to wait outside so as not to ruin the surprise. He said he would allow her 10 minutes. Once inside, she asked the sales assistant for the Safe Space, while also explaining her cover story. The sales assistant got some aftershave ready, while the woman used the Safe Space to make calls to rally the support needed to leave the relationship.
“We know that, on average, people are using the same Safe Space three times, so they’re using it as part of their safety plan. And on average, someone will try to leave an abusive relationship seven times before they actually leave, so we know how crucial this is,” says Bianco.
Hestia is now working with the U.K. government to roll Safe Spaces out across job centers, and is fielding applications from other relevant organizations. But it’s not as simple as just signing them up, as the room must not be visible from the main entrance or accessed by anyone else. Cafes, supermarkets and libraries might seem like good suggestions for a Safe Space location, says Bianco, but they wouldn’t necessarily have a spare private room. In that case, using a Safe Space could potentially increase someone’s risk of harm if confidentiality couldn’t be guaranteed.
That’s why online Safe Spaces are just as important. Hestia has worked with utility companies like British Gas and Royal Mail to introduce a domestic abuse support button on their websites that someone could easily click out of if they knew they were being watched. The web page the button links to leaves no traceable history in the internet browser. Hestia is also encouraging employers to add this button to their corporate intranets. Another digital support tool is the Bright Sky app Hestia created with Vodafone in 2017. It looks like a weather app, but actually contains domestic abuse support resources.
Bianco is disappointed that not all of the U.K.’s banks have signed up to Safe Spaces, but is grateful for the work done by the likes of Santander, which added the service to 385 of its 444 U.K. branches in 2023.
Why banks are stepping in
A bank’s motivation for getting involved with domestic abuse support is slightly complex. Banks are obliged by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to provide a duty of care to vulnerable customers, which includes not only domestic abuse victims, but also those with physical and mental health conditions, a disability or addiction. There’s a commercial incentive, too — with nearly half the population identifying with at least one characteristic of vulnerability, according to the FCA, companies as a whole risk losing a significant part of their customer base if they don’t take care of people facing difficult times.
That’s why many U.K. banks now have entire teams dedicated to working with vulnerable customers, overseeing further initiatives like blocking spending on gambling, offering customers a “Trusted Person Card” through which an authorized third party can withdraw cash and make purchases on someone’s behalf, and allowing people to confidentially disclose any hardship that may affect their finances. Accessibility also falls in this remit, ensuring, for example, websites have video explainers in British Sign Language, and providing signature stamps to people with limited dexterity.
As far as domestic abuse is concerned, it is clearly linked to financial abuse, so banks have a moral responsibility, too, says Dorothy Liviabella, Santander’s head of vulnerable customer strategy, pointing out that many victims have restricted financial access. Another issue, Liviabella says, is in the case of someone who wants to flee an abusive relationship, but is tied financially to their partner through joint accounts and a mortgage. Changes to joint banking and savings accounts would usually require both signatures, but requesting a signature from an abusive partner could jeopardize the victim’s chances of leaving. The bank now has a panel in place to review special requests like this.
“That was the first step in helping people get out of violent relationships, while also helping them regain control of their finances. We did that before launching Safe Spaces, as part of U.K. Finance’s Financial Abuse Code, which we were one of the first signatories to,” says Liviabella.
“We have a genuine part to play in helping people remove themselves from that financial relationship.”
There’s an even bigger value, though, that Hestia’s Bianco sees in big companies like banks showing their support for domestic abuse victims.
“It’s a really big step, because as a society, we’re saying we don’t tolerate domestic abuse,” she says. “Support is available, and crucially, people will be believed, which is one of the biggest barriers.”
The post Stopping Domestic Abuse With a Trip to the Bank appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
