Domestic violence is not restricted to physical attacks: the crime of “coercive control” – where perpetrators subject their victims to mental torture – was introduced in 2015. This form of mental abuse was featured last year in The Archers, a radio soap opera broadcast on Radio 4. Now the BBC has revealed that during 2016 nearly 25,000 people visited its online support page on domestic violence. A further 1,350 individuals phone the BBC support line.
Campaigners have praised the BBC for covering the issue in the soap opera which follows the lives of people living in the fictional village of Ambridge, somewhere in the West Midlands. The story was allowed to unfold slowly over a couple of years. Even after the denouement earlier this year, when Helen Titchener was found not guilty of attempting to murder her husband after revealing how he had abused her, the consequences of the abuse continue in the radio soap. Although many of the villagers are sympathetic to Helen, and blame themselves for not believing that her apparently respectable husband could be such a monster, some of them still doubt that he could have been so cruel to her and are keen to let him back into village life.
Louiza Patikas, the actor who plays Helen in the soap, recognised the value of the advice line, saying, “As part of my research into this storyline I met victims of domestic violence and coercive control, and soon learned that abuse can happen to anyone. The BBC Action Line is so important both for victims of abuse and for the people who support them, so they have somewhere to go for advice and help.”
The BBC has played a valuable role in ensuring that the issue of coercive control is discussed so that more women who are the victims of men who subject them to mental abuse can seek help. Unfortunately, the number of women’s refuges in the UK is dwindling, as government funding cuts take hold.
•The Archers is broadcast on Radio 4 at 2pm and 7pm Monday to Friday and at 7pm on Sunday, with an omnibus edition at 10am on Sunday.
•If you are suffering from physical or mental domestic violence or you are concerned about someone else who may be suffering, help is available on: www.victimsupport.org.uk You can also call 08 08 16 89 111. Calls are free and the Supportline is open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 24 hours at the weekend.
•You can find out about support services in Tower Hamlets on: http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/community_and_living/community_safety__crime_preve/domestic_violence/contacts.aspx
• If you are in immediate risk, call the police on 999 or 112 (from a mobile).
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