“The police are trained to recognise patterns of domestic abuse, including coercive control. They know it is not always about bruises or broken bones. Sometimes it is about threats, isolation, fear, money, phones, movements, and the slow destruction of a person’s freedom. When someone tries to control another human being through fear, the authorities can and should come down hard.”
Sarah had run the women’s refuge for eight years. Every woman who walked through those doors carried the same look in her eyes — the look of someone who’d been beaten, controlled, and broken by the man who was supposed to love her.
Some had been strangled until they blacked out.
Some had been told they’d be killed if they ever left.
All of them had been made to feel worthless.That’s why the refuge existed. One place where a woman could sleep without fear. One place where she didn’t have to check every lock twice. One place where male violence couldn’t reach her.Sarah didn’t just give them a bed. She gave them back their right to feel safe in their own skin.
For more information please call :
If you are experiencing domestic abuse, please call
If you’re experiencing domestic abuse, you’re not alone. Call the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247. It’s free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day.”
