Domestic abuse victim who’s beaten by her partner in their small bedsit on a ‘daily’ basis during lockdown says he’s deleted her Facebook and admits she ‘didn’t care if she woke up in the morning’
- Woman abused by her partner said the situation ‘got much worse’ over lockdown
- Told how he was mentally and verbally abusive, and beatings became ‘daily’
- Said it got to the point where she didn’t care if she woke up in the morning
A woman who has been suffering mental and physical abuse at the hands of her partner told how lockdown made her situation ‘far worse’.
The woman, who was identified only by a pseudonym, Tara, said she was subject to mental and verbal abuse and that beatings became a daily occurrence.
Speaking anonymously to BBC News, the woman, who lives somewhere in the UK, said the torment reached the point where she no longer cared if she woke up in the morning.
The woman, who was identified only by a pseudonym, Tara, said she was subject to mental and verbal abuse and that beatings became a daily occurrence. Stock image
‘Recently it has obviously been getting worse, since the lockdown,’ she said. Mentally abusive, verbally and and obviously been hitting me. And obviously that has been getting worse, like an everyday thing.
‘He’ll cause an argument about nothing and if I fire back, you know, just say something wrong, he’ll hit me.’
Tara said her abusive partner tried to isolate her further by deleting her Facebook account and hiding the phone from her so that she couldn’t speak to anyone.
‘I didn’t care if I didn’t wake up from the night before,’ she added.
She explained the situation was made worse by the fact that they lived together in a bedsit, meaning there was no escape.
Speaking to BBC News , the woman, who lives somewhere in the UK, said the torment reached the point where she no longer cared if she woke up in the morning. File image
‘There was no way to go into the bedroom and shut the door, or nothing,’ she continued. ‘You are actually with each other 24/7.
‘It was getting worse, the violence and everything. I didn’t feel myself. I didn’t want to get up.’
Refuge, the UK’s largest single provider of specialist domestic abuse services, has received more than 40,000 calls and contacts, such as live chat messages, since the start of lockdown.
The charity’s telephone Helpline, which ordinarily logs around 270 calls and contacts from women, friends and family members needing support every day, saw an increase of 77 per cent during June.
During the same month Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline website, where women experiencing domestic abuse can access support if they are unable to call, saw an increase of more than 800 per cent compared to pre-lockdown statistics recorded.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womanstrust.org.uk, womensaid.org.uk or refuge.org.uk.