Hope for 'silent' middle-class abuse victims

In the first programme of its kind in Scotland, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is training key staff in hospitals and health centres to pinpoint warning signs.

The project comes as figures reveal that a victim will typically withstand 35 incidents of domestic violence before telling the police.

Last night, academics warned middle-class women often refused to seek help because of the stigma associated with the crime. And they cited doctors, church ministers and sheriffs as some of the perpetrators of abuse.

Sandra Brown, a leading child-protection expert, said affluent women were embarrassed to admit to family and friends they had been attacked.

She said: "We have personally come across sheriffs' wives and GPs' children who have been victims of abuse.

"Domestic violence does not respect class. It weaves its way through the tapestry of Scottish life. It's a myth that it affects only working-class women."

Mrs Brown said that many victims hid the truth because of their family's standing in society.

She said: "There is a stigma for middle-class women. It's all hidden behind the net curtains. It's very much a case of 'what will the neighbours think?'.

"If you are a GP's wife, you have a certain status within the community. They could lose their home, their children would have to change schools. Their economic status goes."

Recent figures show a marked rise in the number of reported cases of domestic violence in Scotland.

Statistics released in November showed an increase of almost 14 per cent in four years. Those most at risk of violence are women aged 31 to 35.

Dr Linda de Caestecker, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's director of public health, said it would be dangerous to presume that middle-class women could not be victims of extreme violence.

And she said specially trained health professionals would discreetly ask patients whether they needed help to escape a violent partner, so that victims would not fall through the net.

The scheme, which has already been introduced in maternity units, is expected to be up and running within the year.

Staff will ask patients about their experience of domestic abuse and other gender-based violence, while speaking to them regarding other health issues.

Dr de Caestecker said: "The scale of the problem is worrying and the fact that so many people – in particular women – suffer abuse for so long without feeling able to tell anyone about it must be tackled.

"That, on average, a woman will withstand 35 incidents of domestic violence before reporting tells us just how important it is to create more opportunities for professional and sensitive early intervention.

"This highly ambitious step by the board will create a discreet opportunity for patients to raise domestic abuse with trained health professionals at an earlier stage than they might otherwise have felt able to."

Staff in GP services, health visitors and mental health services will receive the specialist training to increase the early intervention approach rapidly.

If a victim does report domestic abuse, the aim is to make an assessment of her situation and offer support.

A spokeswoman for the board said the majority of women its members had spoken to were comfortable about being questioned.

The Scottish Government recently announced funding of nearly 44 million to address violence against women and domestic abuse – more than double the investment in 2005-8.

But Dr Mairead Tagg, a psychologist who works with victims of domestic abuse, said more needed to be done to protect women. She described services for women in Scotland as "hit and miss" and said research had shown that, in hospitals, only 10 to 15 per cent of domestic abuse was picked up.

She warned that the true tally was unknown, because many women suffered in silence for years. She said: "Domestic abuse happens across the social spectrum. We've worked with the wives of ministers … and doctors' wives, a psychiatrist's wife. Unless staff are well-trained in A&E, it will not be picked up."

FACT BOX

REPORTED cases of domestic violence have increased markedly in Scotland, with recent figures showing a rise of almost 14 per cent in four years.

In 2007-8, police recorded 49,655 incidents of domestic abuse, compared with 43,632 in 2004-5.

Those most at risk of abuse are women aged 31 to 35, and it is estimated that one in five women in Scotland experiences domestic abuse at some stage.

On average, Central Scotland Police receive 300 calls of domestic violence incidents every month. But campaigners say this is only the tip of the iceberg and many victims suffer in silence for many years.

Research shows the average victim will have been subject to 35 incidents before they seek help. Charities are calling for more resources to tackle the issue so the early signs of abuse can be picked up at hospitals and clinics.

In the UK as a whole, an average two women a week are killed by a male partner or former partner – this constitutes about one-third of all female homicide victims.

Women's charities point out domestic abuse can affect any woman, regardless of her race, class, age, income or religion.

Victim 'wore a mask' and played happy families for 14 years

JUST six weeks into her marriage Mary (not her real name) knew her life was in danger, but it took 14 years of domestic violence before she finally made the break.

To the outside world, all was well. Neighbours knew nothing of the regular beatings and she kept up the pretence of "playing happy families" with her husband and three children.

Regarded as a pillar of the community, her involvement in church groups and the setting up of a family centre for underprivileged children in Glasgow belied what was going on in her own home. She said: "I was involved in so many social projects, helping people, and yet no-one realised what was happening.

"You wear a mask and people don't see beyond that. It was a case of keeping up appearances.

"The black eyes were pretty obvious, so I just stopped visiting my family until the bruises had healed."

With a steady job working for a local authority, her husband was regarded as a loving family man and she admits she helped maintain that faade for too long.

Mary, 57, is quick to point out that domestic violence affects women of all social classes and backgrounds. Time and again at counselling sessions and self-help groups, she has confided in all kinds of women suffering the same kind of abuse.

"It's not just poor people that domestic violence affects. Domestic abuse is not all about people living in the East End of Glasgow, in poverty. It covers every class."

Bruised from head to foot with a black eye and broken nose, there were only so many times she could lie to friends and say she had fallen down the stairs. Only so many times she could say she had suffered another "accident".

But it was the devastating impact on her three children who had witnessed the abuse that forced her to act.

"I lived in total fear. I decided one night that I had to leave. I went to a refuge with the kids.

"It took 14 years before I finally got out."