28 - The subject of domestic abuse should be raised often.
This is my story.
I implore you to share this episode with anyone you think may take benefit and strength from it.
Here’s a helpline service via text message.
And here’s the article I read that made me want to share my story.
When coercive control was added to the statute books, it recognised something that victims of domestic violence had been explaining for decades: that the physical assaults were “not the worst of it”. It was the pattern of isolation, humiliation and domination that had broken them down, and robbed them of their lives.
It’s a hard area to police, or even put on paper, because it happens slowly, subtly and covers a range of possible behaviours. It’s also deeply personal, explains Davina James Hanman, an independent Violence Against Women consultant. “The perpetrator has intimate knowledge of the victim, so the patterns of abuse and control are specifically tailored,” she says.
Here, a wife is freed after her family successfully challenge her life sentence. Article - Sally Challen.
A lot of the problem is that women don’t know they’re in a relationship of coercive control. It’s family, friends and relatives who do see it. Somehow they have to speak to that person and convince them to leave. They don’t seem to be able to break that tie. It’s a very strong tie and the women are very vulnerable.
She said schools should teach children about coercive control, as boys as well as girls suffered from it. “They’re damaged and it’s damage done to them for the rest of their lives. Teachers also should be aware and look around their classrooms and make the children aware of what could happen.”