Survivors of domestic abuse, including women who have suffered years of physical violence and intimidation, are now preparing for the moment in October when 5,000 prisoners begin to be released early. Following an outcry, rapists and some child sex offenders have been excluded from the early release scheme. I studied domestic homicide reviews with a shudder, seeing how one opportunity after another to save women’s lives had been missed. This chaotic system is what ministers are relying on when they promise survivors of domestic abuse that their attackers will be monitored and served with notices banning them from specific areas. The reality of the anodyne phrase “domestic violence” is broken limbs, fractured skulls and children cowering in corners.