Airbnb and Women’s Aid are launching a pilot that will provide emergency accommodation to domestic abuse victims through the short lets platform. 

The pilot will see listings on Airbnb being used to provide temporary accommodation to survivors free of charge, when specialist emergency accommodation – usually called a refuge – is not available. 

The initiative will launch in one region of England and aims to help local survivors leave unsafe domestic environments. 

To ensure privacy, Airbnb will implement a specialised booking flow that helps protect survivors’ anonymity and complies with Airbnb’s verification processes. 

Women’s Aid specialist services in the pilot area will carefully assess the safety needs of survivors before facilitating bookings into available listings on Airbnb. 

Throughout their stay, all those accommodated will receive continuous support from domestic abuse specialists, facilitated by Women’s Aid. 

Farah Nazeer, chief executive of Women’s Aid, says:“There is a chronic shortage of refuge spaces for women and children fleeing abuse, which resulted in more than half of those seeking refuge being denied a place in the year running April 2022 to March 2023.

“Sadly, as it stands, systemic underfunding has left specialist services unable to meet the demands for their support, making initiatives like this one from Airbnb invaluable. Thanks to Airbnb, survivors will have an avenue of safety at a time when their only other choices may be homelessness or returning to their abuser.

“Domestic abuse is something that impacts our society as a whole, and as such, we know that businesses have an important role to play in ending it. Women’s Aid is extremely grateful to have support from Airbnb as we stand up to abuse and support survivors to live freely and safely.” 

And Amanda Cupples, Airbnb general manager for Northern Europe, adds: “It is a privilege to continue our partnership with Women’s Aid and to now be able to leverage the power of Airbnb’s network and community so that more women and children can be supported in times of crisis. This pilot is a significant step forward in Airbnb’s commitment to ending domestic abuse globally, and we hope to provide vital assistance to more survivors on the journey to rebuild their lives.”

In addition to providing emergency accommodation, Airbnb has also committed to providing training for its UK-based employees. This aims to educate staff to better understand the signs and impacts of domestic abuse, enhance skills and knowledge of domestic abuse at all levels. It builds upon Airbnb’s existing policies and product features on women’s safety, which have been developed with the guidance of expert organisations such as Ujima, Vital Voices, the National Network to End Domestic Violence, Polaris, and more.