'The day he nearly killed me is the day that he saved my life'

"The day he nearly killed me is the day that he saved my life - because I ended up here."

Michaela - not her real name - is talking about the moment she and her son arrived at a refuge run by Sheffield Women's Aid.

After suffering years of domestic abuse, during which she tried to take her own life, she said the secure facility had been both "rock bottom" and a launch pad to reclaim her life.

"I didn't realise I was in an abusive relationship for years," she said.

"When I met him I'd got a good job, my own place, good friends and I'd got my family around me - I had a really good life."

But, she said, by the time she arrived at the refuge seven years later "all I had was a black bag".

Michaela said her partner "stripped it all away very slowly", comparing her abuse to a frog being slowly boiled to death.

"It started as 'caring' but it was psychological and later physical and sexual abuse," she said.

"Mental abuse is just as bad as violence, if not worse. I still don't totally know who I am."

When she first arrived at the refuge, which has been running for more than 50 years, Michaela said she spent three weeks locked in her room, unable to face anyone.

"I just didn't want to know anybody, I thought my life was over. But the workers didn't give up.

"They just knew how to be with me and they never questioned me. They never said why, they let me just be me until I was ready for help."

Michaela said she chose not to bring charges against her partner in order to protect their son, who still has regular contact with his father.

She spoke to the BBC as Attorney General Ellie Reeves visited the refuge to pledge more support for women who report domestic violence crimes, including £5m in funding.

The conviction rate for domestic abuse prosecutions in England and Wales is 74.7%, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Asked what is being done to improve that rate, Reeves said: "I've secured funding for a pilot, which means that before a case gets to the crown court, a victim will be offered a pre-trial meeting with the prosecution team and be given a dedicated victim liaison officer to support them through that process."

She said she had been "humbled" by the women she met in Sheffield, adding: "I'd say to any woman...come forward and you'll be supported, we are doing everything we can to improve systems to make sure you are supported every step of the way."

Reeves' office also confirmed that Yorkshire and Humberside was one of the first regions to give victims of rape and serious sexual offences the opportunity to request an early review of their case by a second, independent prosecutor before a final decision to offer no evidence is made.

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Domestic abuse victim Charmian Owston agreed with Michaela and said the refuge saved her life.

The 53-year-old met her former husband online and after "lovebombing" her, he moved to her hometown in Scotland.

But it was not long before things started to go wrong.

Charmian said he ended up controlling what she wore and ate and made her give up her cake business.

He also installed cameras in their house so he could watch her while he was at work and recorded a sex tape without her permission.

"He was absolutely unhinged, he had really unravelled, he was psychotic," she said.

Charmian was eventually brought to the refuge centre after an episode in a hotel in York where she was found on the street in her pyjamas.

She spent 15 months at the centre, but is now rebuilding her life.

As well as being in recovery for addiction, she speaks at conferences and advises South Yorkshire Police on how to deal with victims of domestic abuse.

"I give back what was freely given to me and try to carry a message of hope," she said.

Sheffield Women's Aid CEO Hollie Venn said on average women stay with the charity between nine and 12 months and there are about 50 women in residence at any one time.

She agreed that changes need to be made to the criminal justice system to increase support for women.

"For instance, the wait times for their cases to go to court - sometimes there isn't always a clear pathway and that can be very confusing for women," she said.

"And when we have significant wait times to go through to court, women's lives are placed on hold and they're not able to move on - they're in a place of limbo and in court are asked to relive their trauma.

"I think there's a real concern that actually we ask survivors to put their faith and trust in the police and the Crown Prosecution Service...but it gives them cause to doubt that actually they're believed."

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