Rising numbers of women in England are experiencing domestic abuse at Christmas, with Refuge, the leading support service in England, saying that calls and contacts to the national domestic abuse helpline in 2023 were still far higher than pre-pandemic, with 171,490 calls in the year ending March 2023, Rachel Hall reports for The Guardian. The charity is warning that Christmas, when there are always more incidents of domestic abuse, presents specific challenges such as social isolation and increased costs that are compounded by the cost of living crisis. Another charity, Women’s Aid, which is also running a winter appeal, said it was anticipating the 15 percent rise it usually saw immediately after the festive period. The law firm Slater Heelis, which specializes in family law, said it had already seen the annual rise in domestic violence calls, which it said was up by an estimated 20 percent on last year, and 30 percent on 2019.