A PETRIFIED woman forced to travel to work in the boot of her husband's car, a jealous tyrant who hunted his victim down, even after a year in prison ... domestic abuse is all too alive in Macclesfield.
Shocking instances like these happen frequently in the borough - and there is no knowing who might be responsible. That is the message from the Domestic Violence Family Safety Unit leader for East Cheshire, Sharon Bowden.
She said: "This abuse is not picky, it happens in affluent areas as well as more deprived ones, it is completely unpredictable."
Sharon, who used to live in Macclesfield herself, told of how one young woman she spoke to was assessed as being in a "low risk" category.
But it was only as she made her way to the door that the terrible truth emerged.
Sharon said: "It seemed like a low risk case, obviously still a problem, but with no risk to her life.
"Then, just as she was leaving, she mentioned: 'He takes me to work and back every day...in the boot."
She added: "We call them 'door handle confessions' - those made as victims are leaving. I think part of her wanted us to know but she was too scared to voice it as a complaint."
Domestic abuse can take all kinds of forms, from the brutally violent to psychological taunting.
"There is extreme abuse, but also more subtle types. Alarm bells ring when you hear someone has put their hands round a partner's neck - then there is the threat they could always take it further next time."
Sharon, who has dealt with hundreds of women in her six years in the unit, has seen cases where women have been isolated, deprived of sleep, had their food or environment controlled, or name-called and bullied.
"And it is the psychological scares that take the longest to heal - getting over it when someone is just tapping away at you, it's just a drip, drip, drip, eroding someone's confidence" she added.
"Victims are brought to their knees emotionally, emptied as a human being."
And no instance of abuse is ever the same.
Sharon added: "I met one woman who was treated like a princess by her partner most of the time; she was given everything she liked.
"But then there was the other side, the dark side, when he would change and I can't even describe it, he would plumb the depths of society.
"He was like Jekyll and Hyde."
Sharon also told of a case where a man did a 12-month prison sentence for assault of a partner, was given early release but breached the terms when he visited his wife.
Completely undeterred by the threat of being back behind bars, he breached the order a second time by hunting her down again, before bouncing back to jail.
"Some people just won't give up and it's our job to make sure the victims are given the right counselling and psychological help - and that the defendants are too.
"But we also need to raise awareness and break this last taboo, and that is what we are fighting for."
- DO YOU want to tell your story in confidence? Contact the newsdesk on 01625 424445.
Click on the 'Related articles' for more ...
