Campaigner 'shocked' by domestic abuse figures

A former Love Island contestant who is now an ambassador for the domestic abuse charity Refuge has said she was "surprised and shocked" by the number of incidents recorded in the Thames Valley.

Didcot-based influencer Sharon Gaffka is taking part in a campaign by Refuge calling for the government to rethink how it funds domestic abuse services.

A spokesperson for the government said it was "treating violence against women and girls as a national emergency".

Thames Valley Police recorded 57,375 domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes in the year ending March 2025 according to the Office for National Statistics.

The number of incidents in the Thames Valley were "weird" , Gaffka said, before adding: "I think I'm surprised and shocked but I'm also not at the same time."

Explaining the Refuge campaign, she said: "The key message is 'home is where the hurt is'."

"Obviously, a lot of people believe that the moment you close your front door, that is where you are the safest - but in the year-ending March 2025, 75 women [in the UK] lost their lives as a result of domestic abuse," she said.

Gaffka, who appeared on the ITV show Love Island in 2021, previously said she had particularly "seen and experienced" how technology was "being used to abuse and harass women".

"We use the phrase domestic abuse rather than domestic violence because abuse doesn't just take physical forms," she said.

"Sometimes it's hard to see it, or understand it as a form of abuse, because it's not physical."

Refuge is now calling on the government to improve funding for measures including refuge accommodation, specialist support workers, and prevention work.

Gaffka, who previously worked in Westminster as a civil servant, was part of a group of Refuge campaigners that took the plea to parliament on Tuesday.

Responding to the campaign, a government spokesperson said: "We're treating violence against women and girls as a national emergency, with a clear commitment to halve it in the next decade."

"That's why we've announced almost £500 million to help councils provide support in safe accommodation for survivors, including refuges and Sanctuary Schemes, so they can get the safety and stability they deserve," the spokesperson added.

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