"I said 'my partner has just hit me on the top of the head and I can't get out - I want to get out - can you come please?'," Ms Charlesworth said. "They said, 'are you in a safe part of the house?'.

"We were living in a two-storey place and I didn't have a key; I couldn't get get out because he'd locked the whole house up.I couldn't jump out over the balcony."

Ms Charlesworth has Mosaic Down's syndrome, a rare form of Down's which usually presents with fewer symptoms. It has left her with a mild intellectual disability, something her former partner used to manipulate her.

She endured physical and mental abuse and threats to her family from her husband, who seemed decent at first but then took to calling her demeaning names like "b****" and "mummy's girl".

Ms Charlesworth, now 39, of Towradgi, left the relationship in 2010 with a surprise $40,000 debt accrued on credit cards in her name, and had to declare bankruptcy. Years later, she tells the Mercury she supports a push by Illawarra Women's Health Centre to establish a Women's Trauma Recovery Centre to help in cases like hers.

"A lot of people in these [abusive] relationships, especially women with disabilities, are too afraid to get out because they're afraid that the guy might chase them. This is where we need the trauma centre. We need a place that they can go to and feel safe and feel that they're not going to get hurt any more and not get killed."

The night of her escape, Ms Charlesworth said her partner wrestled a laptop from her grasp before he hit her over the head. South Coast police responded quickly to her call but, hiding in the bathroom of the Culburra Beach home, she felt like they would never get there.

"I'm like, 'please come on, hurry up' and as soon as I heard them say, 'is your partner there?' that's when I made my escape."

Her mother drove from Dapto at 3.15am to come and collect her.

"My family and mum were there, but it would have been great if I knew something like [the trauma centre] was there. I think the idea's fantastic, especially for people with intellectual disabilities - women who can't get away."

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Nine out of 10 Australian women with a disability have experienced domestic and family violence according to Illawarra support worker Kim Sattler.

Not only do they experience DV at higher rates, they also experience more barriers to access vital support services.

Ms Sattler - a dedicated disability and DV support worker at the Illawarra Women's Health Centre - said these women were often more vulnerable and needed more assistance to get the right supports.

"Women with disability, especially intellectual disability, are often highly controlled by abusive partners - in every aspect of their lives," she said.

"So they don't have experience managing finances, they might not know how to drive or use public transport, and so on - and therefore if they leave an abusive relationship, they will need more help to navigate the system.

"If they don't get that they might fall over very quickly, and end up going back to the perpetrator."

That's why the health centre's bid to establish a Women's Trauma Recovery Centre was so vital. "These women need more help, they need it for longer, and they need to work with people who understand their needs."

Visit the new website for the proposed centre (womenstraumacentre.wordpress.com) for more details, to donate to the cause or sign a petition calling for its funding.

The Mercury is supporting the campaign to establish the centre with its Road to Recovery series. If you, or anyone with know, needs help call the Illawarra Women's Health Centre on or 4255 6800 or call 1800 RESPECT.