The early release of prisoners was unavoidable, but too many women in the UK are now living in fear | Gaby Hinsliff

Despite government assurances on the release of prisoners across England and Wales, the coming days will be filled with a familiar dread for some survivors of domestic violence

When darkness falls, it’s time to bolt the doors. Check the windows, test the locks; circle the house, then anxiously check all over again. The phone must always be by the pillow, just in case. And the slightest noise, if you manage to sleep, will inevitably jolt you awake.

It’s a nightly routine that will be familiar to many survivors of domestic violence, for whom the initial sweet relief of seeing their attacker sent to jail may be swiftly followed by the fear of what might happen once he is released. He knows where you lived, but also where to look: where you work or where your children go to school, where your family and friends are. The dangerous intimacy of a once-shared life keeps survivors looking nervously over their shoulders for years. And that’s why this week’s early release of around 1,700 prisoners – a decision forced on this government, to its palpable fury, by years of Conservative governments recklessly failing to build enough prison places to hold them – has set so many survivors on edge.

Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist

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