LAUSR

Women’s refuges play a crucial role in responding to the needs of women and children experiencing family violence; yet there has been limited research conducted into their operations, practices and challenges faced. This article is informed by critical social work’s theoretical tradition of seeking to end social injustice and analyses key opportunities and challenges of providing refuge amidst a neo-liberal context. We draw on interviews and focus groups with service providers and women who had sought access to a refuge, from a study that was undertaken following the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence in Australia. We found widespread practices by refuges to support social justice for women and children experiencing family violence, as well as challenges and constraints, substantially linked to resource limitations consistent with neo-liberal policies. This research shines a light on innovative refuge practice in local contexts identifying feminist social justice and intersectional practices aligned with critical social work.