According to Tom Watson, the deputy leader of the Labour Party, nearly half of all female domestic violence survivors “take no action” against their abusers “as a result of not being able to apply for legal aid.”

Watson, who first highlighted the issue of the controversial fee after visiting a women’s refuge in Manchester, described the situation as “appalling”, and said that he had requested an “urgent meeting with ministers to put an end to this practice.

“The government should scrap this unfair, immoral fee now,” he continued. “It has to stop.”

Domestic abuse will affect one in four women in their lifetime. On average, two women are murdered by a current or former partner in England and Wales every week.

You can sign Watson’s petition against the practice of charging for letters to prove domestic violence cases here.

Images: Rex Features, iStock

Domestic violence survivors are being charged by GPs to ‘prove’ they were abused