Captive and Controlled – Domestic Abuse in Rural Areas
The report, Captive and Controlled, was commissioned by Julia Mulligan, Chair of the National Rural Crime Network & Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire. It gives an insight into the shocking picture of domestic abuse in rural Britain with hidden victims who are isolated, unsupported and unprotected and are being failed by the system, services and those around them.
When we think of Hertfordshire we think of our bustling towns but we also have a large number of fairly remote villages or even settlements of a few houses and we need to ensure that victims, both male and female, know where they can get help.
Key report findings:
Abuse lasts on average 25% longer in most rural areas
Rural victims are half as likely to report their abuse to others
The more rural the setting the higher the risk of harm
Rurality and isolation are deliberately used as weapons by abusers.
Close-knit rural communities facilitate abuse.
Traditional, patriarchal communities control and subjugate women.
Rural victims live in a society that protects the perpetrators
Support services are scarce – less available, less visible and less effective.
Retreating rural resources make help and escape even harder.
The harrowing stories of victims makes very hard reading, but only by hearing their voices and understanding the impact abuse has had on them will we be able to address the issue:
“You think that the community in villages like the one I lived in would be a source of support but in reality, no-one wants to get involved in another person’s personal life… because he played for the village cricket team he had the support of everyone and this made me feel even more isolated.”
“I found it so hard to find anyone in the village to talk to. They are all perfectly nice people on the surface, but after he shouted at me in the pub that night it was like everyone took a step back from me.”
“My partner used to deliberately drive off to work with the kids’ car seats in his car which meant I could not go anywhere safely because I was stuck in the cottage with the kids… it was just another way he isolated me and kept me from interacting with anyone else”
“Once I came in and he had wrapped up a new phone for me… when I opened it up it had all been set up for me but all the pictures from my old phone and my friend's numbers weren’t on there. Like none of them. When I asked for my old phone to transfer them over he said he had destroyed it because everything I needed was on the new phone… it was like he had removed my former life – just wiped it clean.”
“You don’t really have a choice – the police are at least an hour away and if it happens on a Friday or Saturday night, which it always did, they are busy dealing with other things. I never really considered calling the police – what’s the point? By that time, I had been hit, slapped or punched anyway.”
You can read the full report here: https://www.ruralabuse.co.uk/
Our thanks go to the National Rural Crime Network for allowing us to use their image and reproduce some of their text.