AROUND the world, October is known as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

And a Finchampstead-based charity has been using the month to raise awareness of non-violent domestic abuse with a new video campaign.

Vickie Robertson, founder of Kaleidoscopic UK said she is on a mission to educate people about how to spot domestic abuse.

“When you think of domestic abuse, your brain naturally goes to violence, but it’s so much more than that,” Ms Robertson explained.

“Roughly 98% of people who suffer domestic violence as a physical act also suffer coercive control.

“We wanted to create a video which people can look at and say ‘oh my gosh, that’s me’ and question any relationship red flags.”

Ms Robertson founded the charity after her experiences of domestic abuse, both as an adult and child.

“It’s all about power and control,” she explained. “Instead of talking about blood and gore, we wanted to have a video which shines light on and challenges the very phrase domestic violence.”

The campaign has had a positive impact already, with victims reaching out to the charity after watching the latest video.

Kaleidoscopic UK provides support services to those affected by domestic abuse, including legal support and group sessions for childhood abuse victims.

Demand for the charity’s services has increased since the start of the pandemic.

“We’ve absolutely had an increase in the use of our services, but the problem is they are harder to access,” Ms Robertson said. “While we’ve had an influx of requests and we’re receiving 20% to 30% more calls than we were pre-pandemic, it’s not necessarily safe for us to reach out to everyone — it’s a very difficult time.”

The charity supports between five and 10 families a week, and has been running a domestic abuse awareness course throughout the pandemic.

And there are projects in the pipeline, including a child abuse prevention programme.

“Children live it, they experience it,” Ms Robertson said. “One in five children suffer from domestic abuse, meaning there’s an average of six children in every classroom who are survivors.

“So our next project will be focussed on educating teachers about this. It is the bruises that you can’t see that are the ones that last a lifetime.”

To watch Kaleidoscopic UK’s domestic abuse awareness video, visit: bit.ly/34PlYNO

In a non-emergency, people can:

Call 101 or make a report on the Thames Valley Police website

Call the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247

Contact Women’s Aid via: www.womensaid.org.uk

Call the Men’s Advice Line: 0808 8010327

Call Mankind, a helpline for male victims: 01823 334244

Call Galop, for members of the LGBT+ community: 0800 999 5428

Contact Victims First via: www.victims-first.org.uk

Call SAFE! For victims of crime aged 5 – 18: 0800 1337938

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