Domestic abuse charity boss 'very concerned' about survivors' safety after government alert

The chief executive of Sheffield Women’s Aid said advanced warning of government alerts is “really critical” to protect survivors of domestic abuse.

The reaction followed the phone alert issued on Friday evening, warning the public about wildfire risk.

Hollie Venn said when government alerts had happened previously, National Women’s Aid was advised in advance.

The national body was then able to give regional charities guidance, so they could prepare the survivors that they support.

Ms Venn said: “When we were advised in advance, we were able to put women’s minds at rest and help keep them safe by telling them how to opt-out of the alerts.

“I was very concerned that National Women’s Aid haven’t been told to devolve down to us. And I was very concerned about survivors.”

Ms Venn explained the survivors Sheffield Women’s Aid works with are living in safe accommodation, so aren’t likely to have been around their perpetrator at the time it happened.

“But it made me very concerned for women out in the community who may not be working with specialist services, who may not be in safe accommodation, what risk that placed them in. “

Ms Venn said: “If you put yourself in a survivor’s shoes for a moment, who knows that they’ve got this second phone, and when those alarms went off, can you imagine the panic, anxiety and fear that they may have had, thinking, oh my god, it’s discovered. How am I going to explain this?”

She said: “We had a perfectly good pathway and process last time. So it’s a mystery to me, and many other organisations about why we weren’t forewarned.”

Ms Venn said survivors have second phones to help them access life-saving support or plan their leaving of a relationship.

This could be contact with people or store information they may not be able to have paper copies of like emails or documents.

She said: “We know that perpetrators use a range of methods to coercively control their partners. One of those is monitoring their phones.

“It’s the same reason why on websites where survivors might want to seek help, there’s always a tab on those around exiting the sites quickly. It keeps a survivor safe.

“They’re really crucial resources that can really help women stay safe and actually plan leaving their relationships. We’re really disappointed that those are potentially compromised.

“I get the government are thinking about that wider emergency. But their responsibilities are to also think about who might be impacted.”

Ms Venn said it’s particularly vital that secret phones stay concealed because the point of leaving or having left is the most dangerous time for a survivor, as there is greater risk of serious injury, or murder.

“I think at the heart of all of this is about making sure that survivors are safe and not further impacted or injured as a result of something that hadn’t even been thought about within that emergency alert system.”