• 4 months ago
Panorama 2020 E32
Transcript
00:00This is Littleborough, near Rochdale, in Lancashire.
00:05It's where I spent my childhood.
00:09I don't think I've been back here for...
00:11Must be something like over 35 years.
00:15My family moved out when my parents got divorced.
00:18I was 16.
00:20It looks idyllic, but behind closed doors, it was a different story.
00:25So, this is the house where I grew up.
00:32And it's so weird. I haven't been here for so long.
00:35And I've got some really happy memories of being there.
00:39But there were some really...
00:42..some really difficult times, because my father was violent.
00:47Yeah. So, it's just weird. It's weird.
00:54I remember once...
00:58..he locked my mum in their bedroom and...
01:02..he was...
01:04..hitting her and...
01:07..I was... There was loads of noise and I was scared.
01:10And...
01:12So, I ran from here down to the police station, which...
01:16..I don't know, it's maybe a mile or something.
01:19I was 12 or 13. I was so scared, I just ran to the police station,
01:23ran in and said,
01:25''My dad's hitting my mum. Please, can you come?''
01:34And...
01:36..my mum...
01:39And...
01:41..so, when Boris Johnson told us all to stay at home,
01:44one of my first thoughts was,
01:46''So, what if you are living in a house with a violent partner?''
01:52Because you would...
01:54..you would be literally trapped.
02:01So, I want to find out what really happened under lockdown
02:06and meet some of the people who did manage to escape.
02:18I'm on my way to Wales,
02:20to a refuge for women who've fled domestic violence.
02:27It's run by a charity called Clwmae,
02:30and there are eight flats.
02:33At the moment, it's full.
02:35They could have filled it twice over during lockdown.
02:41The women here are safe now.
02:44But what each and every one of them has been through
02:47is truly terrifying.
02:49They've agreed to share their stories.
02:52For their safety, they're all talking anonymously.
02:57If there hadn't been a refuge,
02:59for all of you, what would have happened?
03:09Is there anyone who came here during lockdown?
03:12Or were you all here before that?
03:14What... Can I ask you what happened?
03:17What... Can I ask you what happened?
03:27That's all right, that's all right.
03:41How do you feel now, how you've been here for...
03:44What are we, mid... You've been here about a month, haven't you?
03:47Yeah. Yeah. I'm happier.
03:49Are you? Yeah, I'm loads happier.
03:52Victoria, what was it like for you growing up?
03:55Um...
03:57I had a violent father.
04:00That was in the 70s and 80s.
04:02We didn't even know it was domestic abuse.
04:04We had... I mean, I didn't know that phrase, you know?
04:07And you certainly didn't talk about it.
04:10This is Jess.
04:12Her husband was abusive to her throughout their long marriage.
04:16He kept me so isolated.
04:18I didn't even know what it was to have friends,
04:20to have a normal conversation.
04:26Jess wants to tell me what happened when lockdown was announced,
04:30when things got even worse for her.
04:36I was at home with him.
04:39And we were both listening to Boris Johnson.
04:45And he looked over at me.
04:48He had his arms folded back and chest out,
04:51cos he knew that would intimidate me.
04:53And he looked at me and he said,
04:55''Let the games begin,'' he said.
04:58He said what? ''Let the games begin.''
05:02And he said, ''If you think it was bad before with the rape,
05:05''if you think it was bad before with the rape,'' he said,
05:08''you're in for a rough ride.''
05:13So the rape started really, really, really bad.
05:17Really bad.
05:19Curtains would get closed, TV would be up loud,
05:23front door would be locked, music would be turned down,
05:27so nobody could hear me.
05:29Screaming for someone.
05:32For anybody.
05:35Jess's story is brutal.
05:38Do you know how many times he raped you?
05:41During lockdown?
05:46A hundred, easily.
05:48A hundred, not more.
05:51And if I struggled, anything, he would strangle me,
05:55hit me, poach me.
05:57He damaged me internally because of what he's done to me.
06:01And then he would burn me with cigarettes all up here
06:04so that nobody would ever want me.
06:07That stay-at-home message, what did that mean to you?
06:12Death. Death.
06:15Seriously? Yeah.
06:18Yeah.
06:20He tried on several occasions.
06:23He would say if he did kill me during lockdown,
06:27he said nobody would know.
06:30Jess's husband never allowed her to be alone in a room,
06:34so one day, when he fell asleep on the sofa,
06:37she decided to take her chance.
06:40Terrified, she went online to find out how to text the police.
07:00I thought, if I don't...
07:02If I don't get out now, I'm going to leave here in a wooden box.
07:06And that absolutely terrified me.
07:10So, um...
07:12Yeah, I had to contact the police. I had to.
07:21Jess got out. Others didn't.
07:25In the first three weeks of lockdown alone,
07:28the number of people killed by a partner, ex-partner or family member
07:32was the highest it's been for at least 11 years.
07:37The charity Women's Aid has been working on the first in-depth research
07:41about the impact of lockdown on domestic abuse for Panorama.
07:46Of the people they spoke to in April,
07:49more than three-quarters of those living with an abuser
07:52said it had made it harder for them to escape.
07:55In June, almost two-thirds said the violence had got worse.
08:04Hello, you're through to Sussex Police. What's your emergency?
08:07What's your emergency?
08:09In Sussex, 999 call handlers are responding to some of those trapped at home.
08:16And what's the safest method of contact to get hold of you,
08:19should we need to speak to you again?
08:22This number that you're calling from...
08:25And does he check your phone?
08:29I understand.
08:31Sometimes you do have to just kind of try and coax information from people,
08:35which they don't necessarily always want to answer.
08:38I think that's kind of the key to domestic abuse
08:41and there is a certain amount of control involved
08:44that makes the victim feel that they can't really speak to anyone.
08:48If you don't want police officers to come in to the address,
08:51we can, you know, speak to you somewhere privately.
08:55Domestic abuse calls to 999 from men and women across the UK
08:59were up by 9% under lockdown.
09:02Someone called the police for help every 30 seconds.
09:07Hello, you're through to Sussex Police. Emergency. How can I help?
09:10We're getting the lockdown type of calls,
09:12the social distancing types of calls,
09:14and then the domestics probably are second to that, really,
09:19from neighbours, the victims themselves,
09:23if they are able to get out and make the call to us.
09:29There aren't enough refuge spaces in normal times
09:32for people fleeing domestic abuse.
09:34During lockdown, there were 1,100 fewer available beds.
09:39That's a drop of 42% compared to the same period last year.
09:44Refuges were hit by staff shortages,
09:47social distancing rules and a lack of PPE.
09:51Marie Williamson runs this London refuge.
09:57The skill set needed to be a refuge manager,
10:01I would say, you can't...
10:06..you can't be afraid of hard work.
10:09At times during the pandemic,
10:11she's been managing this place single-handedly.
10:15So, yeah, because of the coronavirus,
10:18we are concerned that women are in more desperate need to flee.
10:25I mean, obviously, it's not people's choice
10:28that they get into a domestic violence relationship,
10:32but at least we are here to offer that accommodation.
10:37It's about helping women, families.
10:42To get some stability back into their life, actually.
10:50Yay! Good girl.
10:53Christina is at the refuge with her four-year-old daughter,
10:57one of 12 children here.
10:59Everything is different, everything is new.
11:03It is.
11:05You're a good mummy, you're putting everyone to bed.
11:09Within a fortnight of lockdown starting,
11:12the man they were living with became controlling and abusive.
11:17And she knew she had to get out.
11:22I kept shouting and kept the lights on,
11:25didn't let my daughter sleep, refused to let me put her to bed.
11:28So I said to him, I'm just going to pack and leave,
11:32and he wouldn't let me leave.
11:34He tried to block me, he said,
11:37He tried to block me from leaving the room
11:40and while I was packing he was trying to get in the way,
11:44not to let me pack.
11:46And I had to lock myself in the toilet to get some help.
11:51And how was your little girl reacting at this point?
11:54I just wrapped her around my coat and she was shaking,
11:57she woke up shaking and she was looking and she started crying a bit.
12:02At one point, she thought they might have to sleep rough.
12:07I feel horrible that I put her through that.
12:12Because I chose to trust him and to go live with him
12:18and she was subjected to fights and arguments
12:23and she had to live through that
12:26and I've seen it in her behaviour change
12:30and I do blame myself a lot for that.
12:35It wasn't fair on her at all.
12:38But what can you do, I mean...
12:42I think that's the thing that just pushed me through everything,
12:46to just go, get out, go sort something out,
12:49because she deserves better, she didn't deserve that.
12:53And you did it?
12:55Yes.
12:56You got her out?
12:57Yes.
13:01Christina's room was the last one available.
13:06It's been incredibly difficult
13:08to move women to new accommodation under lockdown.
13:13Just wondering if you could call me back, please,
13:18because I've got a bit of an issue
13:21with what's happening with the family's move on this morning.
13:25OK, all right, thank you.
13:27Cheers.
13:29Cheers.
13:30Thanks.
13:31And you.
13:32Bye, bye, bye.
13:34It's been really busy here, unfortunately.
13:38There's been an unexpected situation arise
13:42where a woman's location's been compromised
13:46and we've got to move her on as soon as possible for her safety.
13:51In the south of England,
13:53there is only seven spaces available for this size family.
14:00Marie is trying to find a place
14:02in a different refuge for Gemma and her two children.
14:06Their whereabouts were mistakenly revealed by a third party
14:10to her abuser.
14:14I've not been able to go out
14:16because I've been looking over my shoulder
14:18and it's too dangerous for me to leave the building.
14:21I've packed everything.
14:23And now I've got to unpack the beds tonight
14:26because I'm not actually going to be moving tonight.
14:31And it's a nightmare.
14:32And then tomorrow comes, and if it don't happen,
14:35I'll be waiting again.
14:41So, currently, your family are in limbo at the moment
14:45until we get some answers back from the other refuges
14:49as to where she's going to go
14:51so she doesn't know where she's going to go yet,
14:54how she's going to get there,
14:56or even when she's going to get there.
15:03Back in Sussex, police are preparing to track down a suspect.
15:11Good morning, team.
15:12So, today's objective is for us to look at the high-threat,
15:17high-harm offences, and we'll be concentrating on domestic abuse.
15:21So we've got a number of jobs today ready for us to go.
15:27Police across the UK
15:29recorded more than 85,000 domestic abuse incidents
15:33over the first seven weeks of lockdown.
15:36We are just about to try the home address of the suspect.
15:40These officers are following up domestic abuse calls
15:43that have been flagged as priority.
15:46We received a call from the victim last night
15:50with regards to...
15:52She had an argument with her partner,
15:55and during the argument, he got upset and punched her a few times.
16:03Now lockdown is lifting in this part of the country,
16:06people are able to move about more easily.
16:08We're going to pull off, we're going to go round the back.
16:11And the suspect isn't at the first two locations the police try.
16:17But they've identified the van of the man they're looking for.
16:29So we're on the move. Tell us where we're going now.
16:32OK, so we're heading off to Colborough,
16:34and we've tracked the vehicle to that location.
16:37We suspect that he might have guessed
16:39that we're trying to look for him at his workplace as well.
16:43We've got this edge, so let's maximise it.
16:48We've got sight of the vehicle at the moment.
16:50Our units have got sight of the vehicle at the moment.
16:52We're going to be on the south side of the roundabout,
16:54so you won't be able to see us,
16:55just shout when you're going through and I'll stop at the red.
16:58We're going to approach her now.
17:00Two police vehicles pull the van over.
17:03Have they stopped him?
17:08There, there, there, there.
17:14The suspect's arrested and later charged.
17:2819 days after lockdown began,
17:30the government announced it would give an additional £2 million
17:34to domestic abuse helplines,
17:36and it launched a social media campaign
17:38to encourage people to report domestic abuse.
17:44Fiona Dwyer is the boss of Solace,
17:47one of the largest refuge providers in the UK.
17:51The timing was dreadful.
17:53It should not have taken 19 days to mobilise any sort of action,
17:57and what it highlights is that it wasn't a priority for the government.
18:00It wasn't thought about, you know, for the better part of three weeks
18:03to wait for any sort of response,
18:05and then £2 million is just really... It's a poor effort.
18:09Were you too slow to act?
18:11I don't think we were,
18:13because when we were talking to charities
18:16in the very, very earliest days,
18:19we were very much responding.
18:22We said to them, what do you need for us to help?
18:25And so we very much focused on that practical help
18:28and then the additional £2 million for helplines.
18:31Can I tell you how many people were killed
18:34in alleged domestic abuse cases in the three weeks between lockdown?
18:38And when that announcement was made for the £2 million for the helplines,
18:42it was 11 women and two children
18:45and one man...
18:48..in those three weeks.
18:50It is the perpetrators who killed those people,
18:54and we, charities, the police,
18:57we all work incredibly hard to keep victims and survivors,
19:01but we must never take attention away from the fact
19:04that it is abusive people who committed those murders.
19:14Many survivors don't go to a refuge.
19:19This is a women's drop-in centre called My Sister's House in Bognor Regis.
19:26It had to close its doors at the start of lockdown
19:29and could only support people over the phone.
19:34I've only been able to do some calls
19:36when the alleged perpetrator has gone out for a jog, if you like,
19:40so I've had that 20-minute window
19:42that I've had to stop what I'm doing and actually call her,
19:46so I've actually been working outside of my hours
19:49to fit in with the women when they're able to take the call.
19:54That was stressful for them. Very stressful.
19:56The alleged perpetrator's gone out for a jog, as you say.
19:59They've literally only got 20 minutes.
20:02Yeah, 10 minutes, and he's walked through the door
20:04and I've terminated the call.
20:08The centre was able to open its doors again at the start of July.
20:19Sophie left her boyfriend under lockdown.
20:22This is her first visit.
20:27We both got Covid. We were both locked in together.
20:31I think it pressure-cooked while we were spending that time together
20:35and it just kind of blew up.
20:39Domestic abuse takes many different forms.
20:43Poisoning, arson and revenge porn
20:46were some of the incidents recorded by police under lockdown.
20:50Sophie's boyfriend force-fed her.
20:54It was something that I was OK with to a point
20:57and then when it stopped being comfortable for me,
21:00he kept up the pressure of saying, like,
21:03no, you have to finish it.
21:05I think he thought maybe it was something I was OK with
21:09but I don't have other words other than no, I want to stop now.
21:14I just don't think people will know that this is a form of abuse.
21:18I honestly don't think they will.
21:21Can I ask how that started?
21:24It started out just like playing a fetish
21:27and when I didn't want to do it, he still did.
21:33And it was almost like I'd signed a contract
21:36without actually signing a contract.
21:39It always made me feel sick afterwards
21:41and one time I actually threw up.
21:46Robin has arrived for her first face-to-face meeting in three months.
21:52Her boyfriend used lockdown as a way of controlling her.
21:57How do you feel that your ex's behaviour changed?
22:02It was almost like he didn't have to cover up anymore
22:06because I was self-isolating.
22:08He got more and more aggressive.
22:10He was punching walls, snapping door handles.
22:14He was throwing stuff, calling me names,
22:17shouting and screaming at me and stuff,
22:20making me feel worthless.
22:22And I was pregnant.
22:24But it was almost like he didn't have to hide anything
22:27because who's going to know?
22:29I wasn't going anywhere, I wasn't talking to anyone.
22:31And the fact that he used to hide as well,
22:33he used to say to you all the time,
22:35you're safe at home, you stay at home.
22:37You don't need to go to the shops, I'll go to the shops for you.
22:40So you think he's being supportive
22:42but actually he's being very controlling.
22:44He even tried to stop me going to a scan.
22:47Like Robin, two-thirds of women experiencing abuse
22:51said lockdown and the virus
22:54had been used to threaten and control them.
23:01Do you think people considered these kind of challenges
23:04when lockdown was announced?
23:06I don't think so.
23:08I don't think the government even understood the impact of what this had.
23:16Calls to national helplines soared during lockdown.
23:21Official figures suggest
23:23one-third of domestic abuse survivors in the UK are men.
23:27A specialist helpline for male victims
23:30saw demand rise by 65%.
23:34And calls to a service for LGBT plus victims doubled.
23:40Six weeks after lockdown began,
23:42the government announced a £76 million funding package
23:45for vulnerable people in England.
23:48For some, it was too late.
23:51The government inaction and slowness to respond
23:55has made an incredibly challenging period even more challenging.
23:59And I think the only thing that they can do
24:02is to actually make sure that there is robust, sustainable funding
24:05for future services.
24:07When that money does run out, are you going to give them more money?
24:10Particularly as we approach winter
24:12and there could potentially be another coronavirus spike?
24:15We are in the middle of spending review preparations and negotiations.
24:19At the moment, you can imagine, as Minister for Safeguarding,
24:22I am making sure that the needs of domestic abuse victims,
24:25but also investment in things like perpetrator programmes,
24:29are part of our submission to Treasury.
24:38Back at the London Refuge,
24:40Manager Marie is still trying to find a new place for Gemma and her children.
24:46Is it likely she's going to be accepted or...?
24:51OK. All right. Thank you. Cheers.
24:55Thanks. And you. Bye, bye, bye.
24:58So I just think, you know what, the best thing for me to do
25:01is just have a look and see what's available today.
25:05And actually, there's even less today.
25:08There's five spaces available today in the area.
25:13Where are they?
25:15In the whole of the south of England, basically.
25:20The National Database shows refuge spaces across the UK.
25:24North Devon's gone, I'm afraid.
25:29Gemma is adamant she needs a new start.
25:32Listen, I've had two violent relationships and I ain't going back.
25:38I'm making a statement. I ain't going back.
25:41Two violent relationships and I'm not having it.
25:44Me and my children, that's it.
25:46OK, so I've had five refuges out of the seven refuges that were available
25:54and they've all declined the referral for various different reasons.
26:00I'm going to ring up one other refuge in a minute
26:04and just see whether or not we can escalate the referral.
26:09This is the last space and then after that I've got no other options.
26:14Finally, a refuge has a room free.
26:18You don't have to wait any more. Fresh beginnings.
26:23You don't need a cab. You need a removal van.
26:26There's a difference.
26:34Are you excited?
26:36You happy?
26:40I don't want to leave.
26:42You'll be all right.
26:44I want to stay.
26:46I want to stay.
26:48I want to stay.
26:50You'll be all right.
26:52I want to stay.
26:54You all right?
26:56Feel good.
27:06Marie's getting Gemma's old room ready for a new family.
27:12Sometimes I think to myself, oh, here we go again,
27:16but I know that ultimately the reason why I'm doing this
27:20is to make sure that a family's safe, you know,
27:24and they're so grateful when they come in just to be able to sleep.
27:32Here's the room.
27:34Fully cleaned, totally transformed, ready for the new woman.
27:40And I'm just literally waiting for a phone call now.
27:44It could even be tomorrow.
27:51People hear the word refugee, they go, it's daunting.
27:55It really isn't.
27:57We are like a little family here.
27:59I feel safe. I don't feel threatened.
28:02I can go to bed at night knowing nothing's going to happen to me.
28:09With further lockdowns looming,
28:11the support has to be put in place
28:13to help people living in abusive relationships now.
28:17I know how hard it can be to get out of a violent household,
28:21even in normal times.
28:23And I've met some women who escaped during lockdown.
28:27And that is remarkable.
28:29They are remarkable.
28:41More videos like this are available on the BBC Actionline website.
28:45Or you can call for free at any time
28:48to hear recorded information on 0800 888 809.