New research out today claims that the victims of domestic violence are being ignored in the housing crisis.

Lobby group Safe Ireland claims more than 4,000 women and children living in refuges are not recognised as homeless.

Government figures at the end of February show that 912 families, including more than 1,800 children, were in emergency accommodation.

However, that number does not factor in the majority of those in refuges.

Technically women and children taking shelter in a refuge are seen as “out of a home” rather than having no home.

But Safe Ireland is highlighting that often those homes are too dangerous to return to.

In their latest study, which interviewed 40 women, they found that two thirds had experienced physical abuse on a weekly basis.

Half had reported a serious threat to their lives in the very first incident of violence, dispelling the notion that violence escalates over time.

Campaigners say the solution needs a two-pronged approach – access to a safe home and “a justice system that takes them seriously”.

However for now, they say women and children suffering domestic violence are being failed abysmally.