Victoria Derbyshire has recalled living in fear of being hit or whipped by her late dad growing up. The BBC presenter said she once had to contact the police over one of his outbursts.
In a video clip filmed for tonight’s BBC Panorama: Escaping My Abuser outside her childhood home in Littleborough, Rochdale, Derbyshire, the 51-year-old detailed one particular moment.
The broadcaster said: “I remember once, he locked my mum in their bedroom and he was hitting her and there was loads of noise and I was scared.
“So I ran from here down to the police station which was, I don’t know, maybe a mile or something?”
Victoria continued: “I was 12 or 13, I was so scared, I just ran to the police station, just ran in and said, ‘My dad’s hitting my mum, please can you come’.”
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Refuge, the charity which runs the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, has reported a rise in the number of calls.
Last month the organisation’s director of operations, Jane Keeper, said there had been “huge spikes in the number of women who have needed or support during lockdown, and as restrictions start to ease we are seeing demand rise yet more”.
In July, the charity said the National Domestic Abuse Helpline had received more than 40,000 calls since the start of the coronavirus lockdown.
Refuge’s telephone helpline, which ordinarily logs around 270 calls and contacts from women, friends and family members needing support every day, saw an increase of 77 per cent during June.