Sandra Horley CBE

Sandra Horley – chief executive of Refuge since 1983. Refuge opened world’s first domestic violence shelter in 1971 and is now UK’s largest provider of specialist services for victims of domestic violence and other forms of violence against women, supporting around 4,000 women and their children daily. Sandra sits on Home Secretary’s national oversight committee overseeing implementation of HMIC’s domestic violence recommendations and on Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s advisory panel. She has trained police, health, housing and social workers and was the first civilian woman to address Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). Sandra has given written and oral evidence to Home Affairs Select Committee and Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiries and has acted as expert witness in criminal trials where abused women were accused of murder/manslaughter; she supports families bereaved by homicide and runs award-winning awareness campaigns. Sandra has published books and numerous articles in journals and media. She advises governments and law-enforcement agencies, internationally, on strategies to tackle violence against women including China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Malawi, Ghana, Spain and Canada. Sandra was awarded an OBE in 1999 and a CBE in 2011 for services to the protection of women aqnd children and prevention of domestic violence. In 2016 Refuge was named Charity of the Year at Charity Times Awards.