This interview would be of interest to all agencies as it succinctly describes many aspects of domestic violence and abuse from the onset through to rebuilding one’s life.

An account of what it was like to grow up living with continual domestic violence. Johanne also experienced violent abuse from her step-father and tells us what impact this had on her as a child and as a woman. She also describes how it affected her relationship with her mother. Johanne is now a volunteer with a Women’s Aid organisation supporting women who access a drop in service and are in need of help and support.

This interview is useful to all agencies working with children and families, and those working with adult survivors of childhood abuse.

Kimmy describes her 18 year relationship with an abusive partner. Like many women, she believes that her experience wasn’t that bad because it wasn’t violent. However, she clearly describes for us the emotional and psychological abuse she endured and the impact this had on her physical and mental health, in terms of living with depression and being prescribed antidepressants throughout her marriage. Kimmy also identifies the emotional impact the domestic abuse had on her daughter. Towards the end of the interview, Kimmy makes mention of where she found people to believe her and offer her support.

This interview would be useful to health professionals and those offering therapeutic support services and resources.

Zak talks us through his experience of growing up with domestic violence and a mother who became drug dependant to her abusive partner and his journey into and through the care system. He further describes his experience of domestic violence in a same sex relationship with an older man and the parallels between homophobic abuse and domestic abuse.

Zak’s interview will raise awareness with all agencies working with families, children and young people and those offering support to young people in same sex relationships.

A vivid and moving description of survival within a long marriage Kirsten’s ex husband was extremely violent and abusive from the beginning and yet she managed to disguise this to the outside world, for what she believed, were the best interests of her children. Kirsten didn’t want to disrupt their lives, determined to stay until they had finished their education. She describes the tactics used to abuse her and the impact the abuse had on her physical and mental health. Kirsten finally found support which enabled her to make the decision to leave. Kirsten is now a volunteer supporting other women who experience domestic abuse.

This interview demonstrates the experience of domestic abuse through teenage years with a young family. Angela talks us through the journey she made with her partner and how he finally became accountable for his behaviour and sought help. They remain together many years later. It is rare to hear an account of an abusive partner who accepts full responsibility and makes changes to his attitudes, beliefs and behaviour.

This would be of interest to agencies that support young families and agencies offering support to victims and pro-active help to perpetrators of domestic violence and abuse.

Sue shows us how her abusive relationship resulted in her finally losing her job as a bank manager. Having met her partner, their relationship progressed quickly and they were soon married. This is a clear and moving account of the abuse she experienced and how it escalated both emotionally and violently throughout the marriage, resulting in frequent visits to accident and emergency over a five year period. Sue describes how she left the relationship and how the impact of her experience shattered her both emotionally and psychologically leading to a long period of depression and culminating in the loss of her job.

Sue’s interview might be of specific interest to health professionals, the police and HR personnel.

Sandra, an Afro-Carribean/Irish woman, gives us her account of domestic violence and abuse in a teen relationship with a baby, the nature of the abuse she experienced and how she escaped. She moves on to further discuss her experiences of domestic violence and abuse within same sex relationships, where she found support and the impact this had on her.

Sandra’s interview will be helpful to professionals working in health settings, social care services, youth and community groups and those facilitating and offering therapeutic support to the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and trans-gender communities.

This interview would be helpful to agencies that support young families, health professionals, housing, the police and probation services.

Jack gives us an extraordinary insight in to his cross-cultural and cross-faith relationship and marriage to his Muslim wife. Having determined that they wanted to be together, they immediately fled and had death threats placed on them. They have been fleeing ‘honour killing’ for 13/14 years due to the ‘dis-honour’ she has brought on her family. He describes the enormous difficulties they have had to face and endure to remain safe and to live their lives in a way that most of us take for granted. Jack talks at conferences and seminars nationally, as well as training the police in how to deal with this most serious issue.

This interview will be useful to all agencies and organisations because it focuses on forced marriage and honour killings, issues that we all need to increase our understanding of, so that we can identify cases more effectively.

We all know it’s hard enough to be believed when you are in an abusive relationship, but it’s even harder when your abusive partner is a high profile personality in the media. Jo describes how her relationship began, how the abuse escalated during pregnancy and became more violent, finally leading to a miscarriage. She also talks about her struggle with child contact, the court process and the legal system.

Jo’s interview will be helpful to professionals working within the legal system, the police and health professionals.

Gina’s experience was one of emotional, psychological and verbal abuse, the very core of every survivor’s experience within an abusive relationship. She describes her relationship and how she learned to exist within it. Gina also discusses where she found support, the process of leaving and her meticulously planned escape.

This interview would be useful to those offering therapeutic support and those who may find themselves assisting a person to make a supported exit or escape.

This is a powerful and moving insight in to the life of a young Kurdish woman. Surma talks about her experience as a child and teenager in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq. She describes for us what life is like for girls and women in this culture and the expectations placed upon them. She vividly describes daily emotional, physical and sexual abuse, female genital mutilation and escaping not only ‘honour killing’ but fleeing Iraq with a fatwa placed on her, her journey to political asylum and what is like for her to arrive in a country carrying all this trauma and unable to communicate about it because of the language barrier.

Surma’s interview is particularly useful in raising awareness of forced marriage and female genital mutilation and the psychological impact of these experiences. It will be useful to all agencies and organisations working with refugee communities in every capacity.