This week, BBC’s Silent Witness tackled head on domestic violence and abuse (DVA). When TV attempts to present the reality of domestic abuse, it can often in fact misrepresent the issues and the trauma experience by victims. Our CEO Deb gives an account of how Silent Witness has successfully and sensitively cast an appropriate representation of the issues and trauma faced by women, and where there is still room for improvement.
“This programme was so well researched that they tackled a vast range of issues in the first half an hour of Episode 1 alone. In Silent Witness, the BBC has made a programme of which parts could serve as a training film for professionals and definitely serves as an awareness raising tool for our communities.
We see the way that family courts mix up ‘parental alienation’ with ‘mothers trying to keep children safe’, and how responding to a question (he that asks the question holds the power) can make all the difference to someone’s safety (‘Who told you I was out?’ – ‘No-one I just guessed’). Mindful responses can prevent a beating, or worse.
There are some gems in the programme that we would love to see applied consistently on the professional landscape, for example, the professional curiosity that means we look for what MIGHT lie beneath the everyday, apparent realities of life. In the programme bruising often communicated this, but in real life we usually have to spot more subtle signs.
Including so many variables meant we didn’t really get a sense of the true power of coercion in the programme, nor the fear of physical harm. Perhaps producers hold back or a programme of this length cannot pack so many examples in and really convey the depth of entrapment, but communities need to really understand the complexity of being in a relationship of this nature, the fear, entrapment and confusion of trying to live through it. Who knows which friend or relative in their real life may be experiencing something similar – we all have a role to educate, and domestic abuse is certainly everybody’s business.
The pathologist Nikki’s own memories of a childhood blighted by domestic violence were a great device. We see the ways that these memories can be triggered when we come across similar narratives, or even just the shape of a bruise, a sound, anything that can cause the revisiting of a painful experience that has been programmed into our neurology. The way that events live on in our bodies for years. The fact that behind a successful façade can lie many traumas.
The programme addresses the ways in which children are affected, but perhaps doesn’t show clearly enough how conflicting this is for them. That children don’t necessarily know that what they experience is not normal. That they love their abusing parent and are likely to be unconsciously confused by the simultaneous fear and love that they experience. Because life is complex and no matter what they do we tend to love our parents anyway, especially at tender ages.
We do see really clearly the shame that eats into us, the self-blame that overtakes the minds of those who find themselves in these situations. Silent Witness takes this to its ultimate extreme, but the reality is for most it is hard enough to leave, revenge is not an option.
Watch the Silent Witness Episodes:
Part 1 >
Part 2 >
If you or someone you know is suffering from domestic abuse, there are ways we can help. Get help now >
Get Help Now
If you or someone you know is experiencing Domestic Abuse, you can get help fast:
In an emergency always call 999 (if you can’t speak, cough or tap the handset then press 55 on your phone - the police will know it’s an emergency) or 101 for non-emergencies
For non-emergency support and safety planning, if it’s safe to do so:
In Kent: Call Victim Support on 0808 16 89 111 email kent.vart@victimsupport.org.uk or use live chat bit.ly/VS-livechat
In Medway: Call our helpline 0800 917 9948 or email RAISEreferrals@oasisdaservice.org
www.oasisdaservice.org/raise
Domestic Abuse is everybody’s business
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