Retail workers could be asked to look out for a "key word" which signals someone is a victim of domestic abuse.
Under new Government plans, a specific phrase could be used to alert shop staff, who will be trained to identify the key words, the Home Office said.
The government is working with various groups – including the National Pharmacy Association and British Retail Consortium, plus domestic abuse charities – on the codeword scheme, according to the Home Office.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to discuss the codeword scheme at the virtual Hidden Harms Summit on Thursday (May 21).
Mr Johnson said: "I am acutely aware that for some people home is not a safe space, and that coronavirus has brought with it additional dangers."
He also stressed the importance of supporting "the most vulnerable", and the need to keep them safe from harm and exploitation.
The government is working with various groups – including the National Pharmacy Association and British Retail Consortium, plus domestic abuse charities – on the codeword scheme, according to the Home Office.
Security Minister James Brokenshire Brokenshire also announced the new plans on Sky News.
He said: "We're also looking at a concept of having a key word – that if you are a victim of domestic abuse trying to escape from your situation that if you go into a shop, given the limits on access at the moment, and actually be able to give that key word, that will alert the person working in the front line in that shop that you are in need of help, to safeguard you.
"And therefore working with the retailers, working with the charitable sector, to put in place some extra protection, some extra means of escape for those who are suffering appalling abuse."
The codeword scheme has been championed by the Victims’ Commissioner, Domestic Abuse Commissioner and crisis support charities such as Safe Lives.
The Home Office said that £76 million of extra funding has been made available for vulnerable people from the Government’s £750 million package of support for charities.
