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In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, domestic violence - in addition to the health, social and economic effects of the pandemic - has been identified by science, politics and society as a serious threat to individuals and society. The police crime statistics for Saxony confirm this: Reported cases of domestic violence have increased. This increase is also fuelled by precarious living conditions, whether due to scarce or inadequate housing, tenancies that make it difficult to escape domestic violence, a lack of housing prospects after staying in women's shelters or the use of digital devices to intrusively control one’s partner. At the same time, there is a disparity between urban and rural areas with regards to the availability of help from support services and networks for adult victims and children at risk. An interdisciplinary research center for the prevention of domestic violence and the promotion of safe housing, which combines knowledge from economics and social sciences, psychology and the humanities, and which is also open to cooperate with regional institutions, the housing industry and researchers from technical disciplines, will investigate these issues.