They are the women who don’t make the headlines, the women we don’t hear about — or what they and their children endure — until it’s too late.

While we go about our everyday lives, they spend their time in fear behind closed doors — in every suburb, town and region in South Australia.

Sometimes those doors are to the family home.

Thousands of women stay in that supposed sanctuary, despite the pain they suffer at the hands of their partners.

Last year five South Australians were killed by their abusers.

Sometimes the doors are to a shelter, a refuge, or a motel room. Hundreds of women who cannot take any more flee with their children to find a safe place — which can be both a respite from harm and a prison cell.

The plight of all these women is a community crisis long ignored, and one we only see in glimpses through another door — the one to our court system when media reports reveal the physical and psychological traumas victims endure.

But those cases are the tip of an enormous iceberg lurking beneath the surface of our society.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Every day, SA Police attend more than 80 call outs to domestic violence-related incidents, or almost 30,000 a year. These cases rarely involve a death, but represent the extent of a problem that leaves lasting physical and mental damage.

Figures provided to SAWeekend by three major service providers show there were more than 310 women and children living in shelters and motel rooms across Adelaide over the Christmas and New Year period.

This does not include regional or rural shelters or smaller urban organisations, nor the women and children getting by couch-surfing or sleeping on the streets.

When the limited beds offered in crisis shelters are full, victims are referred to a motel and the cost is covered by the government.

The SA Housing Authority approved $4.7 million worth of accommodation at 15 hotels and motels last financial year, to help 4870 people facing homelessness. The cost has almost doubled from $2.4 million in 2015-16, to help 3898 people.

Not every person was experiencing family violence — but it is the leading cause of homelessness among women.

The State Government has committed another $9 million to open new shelters, offering 40 more beds, and expand existing services.

Demand is soaring as more victims find the courage to leave violent households but help is not always available when they need it.

Frontline workers warn existing shelters are almost always full, and some women return to abusive relationships when there is not enough room.

A shortage of affordable public or private housing creates a backlog that only exacerbates the problem.

In a bid to address the dire need, some who have managed to escape abuse are opening their own homes.

SAWeekend has spoken with women of all ages and backgrounds to learn what life is like when you are forced to flee your home to save your life.

We walked the corridors of the shelters and motels that take in survivors and stood at the front doors of houses in suburbs across Adelaide that hid their horror.

Today we throw open the doors to tell their stories.

*Name changed for safety reasons.

(Produced by Paul Purcell)