abuse

This a really important issue and one, which sadly often remains hidden from view to the great detriment of those afflicted. This story tells us:

A “deeply hidden and disturbing side to rural life” has been laid bare by an 18-month inquiry into domestic abuse in the English countryside.

Domestic abuse victims there suffer for longer, are less likely to report abuse and struggle to get support, it said.

Victims are isolated, unsupported and unprotected in a “rural hell” that protects the perpetrators, the National Rural Crime Network report found.

The government has just set out new plans to tackle the issue.

The researchers carried out 67 in-depth interviews with people who had experienced domestic abuse, and a set of separate interviews with those working in services supporting victims.

The inquiry also included a review of academic literature and a survey of a separate group of 881 abuse survivors, recruited for the research with the help of support services.

It sought to discover how the experience of domestic abuse in rural areas and getting help for it is different from urban areas and why.

National Rural Crime Network chairwoman Julia Mulligan described domestic abuse as “the hidden underbelly of rural communities”.

“We have uncovered a deeply hidden and disturbing side to rural life.

“Far from the peaceful idyll most people have in their mind when conjuring up the countryside, this report bares the souls and scars of domestic abuse victims, who all too often are lost to support, policing and criminal justice services,” she said.

Rural victims were half as likely to report their abuse to others, and experienced abuse for 25% longer, the report found.

And rural isolation is often used as a weapon by abusers, it said.

“Physical isolation is arguably the best weapon an abuser has and has a profound impact on making the victim feel quite literally captive,” the report said.