While luxury hotels and others get a TV licence discount for multiple sets on their premises, refuges providing shelter and support for victims of domestic abuse are charged the full price for each of their licences.

Individual refuges are spending hundreds or even thousands of pounds on TV licences that should be spent on essential services for abused women.

For victims of abuse, television is not merely a luxury.  It can have an important role to play, offering comfort and a welcome distraction, especially for children caught in the middle of abusive relationships.  The last thing a woman arriving at a refuge needs is to face demands for payment of a TV licence.

Furthermore, the activities of enforcement officers can put women at risk.  It is a known tactic of violent ex-partners to pose as officials in order to gain access to refuges.  For women to be put in a position in which they are answering the door to someone who may be an enforcement officer, but could equally be a violent man seeking his ex-partner, is totally unacceptable.

Sign the petition below to support changes to the TV licence concession scheme and call for a review of licence fee enforcement practices.