Content created in partnership with Women’s Refuge

As Kiwis, we all wish the need for Women’s Refuge didn’t exist. But with the highest domestic violence rates in the OECD, the charity – helping just under 50,000 women and children escape family violence across New Zealand each year – is one of the most needed.

For the safety and protection of those wāhine, anonymity is vital. For that reason, the true impact of public donations is often unseen. But, says CEO Ang Jury ONZM, the services they allow Women’s Refuge to provide are, “life-changing in every case, and life-saving in many”.

This July, as part of the annual Safe Nights appeal, New Zealanders are invited to experience a Women’s Refuge Safe Night Bed Shop. An installation at 27 Brandon Street, Wellington, the powerful display highlights the real-life impact of the services the charity provides; each bed tells the real-life story of a woman or child who has escaped family violence with the support of Women’s Refuge. 

You can’t buy the beds, but you can gift the security of a safe night to a wāhine and her tamariki seeking Women’s Refuge support.

For $20, New Zealanders can provide a woman and her children – at risk of family violence – access to a bed, hot food, security and travel and a 24/7 crisis line, as well as dedicated staff and advice.

Each July the Safe Beds appeal has shed light on those services and the life-changing impact they have on women and children at risk of violence in the home. If not for the generous donations of New Zealanders, says Jury, “we simply could not continue to be there for the women and children who require our help”.

Emergency accommodation is a vital first step, but it’s just one of many on the road to rebuilding a positive, safe and thriving future.

“From that first safe night, we walk beside them, supporting them to confront many challenges and working with them to ensure the new life they may have never thought was possible can be achieved.”

The Safe Night Bed shop is open weekday afternoons and Saturdays until August 14. The beds were chosen as a symbol of hope and safety. To protect the identity of those telling their stories, they’ve been read and recorded by high-profile New Zealand actors, including Thomasin McKenzie and Dame Miranda Harcourt.

For Harcourt, being able to give a voice to “such an important issue” is a “privilege”.

“These women and children are not statistics,” she says. “They are human beings and a part of the fabric of our community as New Zealanders. The Safe Nights Bed Shop campaign gives such valuable insights into the way Women’s Refuge helps families to create a new future.”

To date, more than 40,000 Safe Nights have been gifted by generous members of the public and with that support, says Jury, “we help women overcome seemingly insurmountable barriers”.

“Where to live, how to support themselves, how to rebuild a lost connection with friends and family, fear of losing their children and – for many – the need to repair a severely damaged sense of self.”

There’s no time limit to the support provided by Women’s Refuge, and on average, they support women for 26 nights before they can resume a sense of normal life. Kiwis can donate as many Safe Nights as they’re able, and monthly or fortnightly subscriptions can be set up.

That support from the public, says Harcourt, is “vitally encouraging”.

“Women and children escaping family violence would not have beds, bedding, food, security and a roof over their heads without the generosity of New Zealanders,” she says. “These donations provide safety but they also create change.”

To be part of that change, visit safenight.nz to gift a safe night to someone you’ll never meet, in a place you’ll hopefully never visit.

If you are in danger or in need of support, Women’s Refuge are available 24/7 on 0800 REFUGE (0800 733843). Please click here to find your local refuge or to live chat with an advocate.