‘My whole life is in that house’: survivors fleeing domestic violence can lose much more than their home

Tessa wasn’t allowed to collect half the things she requested from her old home, including her daughter’s toys, after her husband disputed they were hers. Photograph: stevehullphotography/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Tessa scarcely had time to collect her belongings before escaping the home she had shared with her husband of 20 years.

Later, as she took out an apprehended domestic violence order against him, the court asked her to make a list of items she wanted to collect.