‘He got our kid this cuddly panda, and she took it everywhere. Then I realised it had a tracker in it.’
‘I saw this woman was killed in the papers. They said it was a private passionate. I thought, that will be me.’
‘He’s never actually physically hurt me, but – .’
Just steps away from one of London’s busiest streets, red flags have filled up an entire plaza on International Women’s Day.
Outernet, an underground venue just minutes away from Oxford Street, is hosting an emotional exhibit to raise awareness for abuse on International Women’s Day.
Each one is adorned with real life testimonies of abuse and early ‘red flags’ in abusive relationships from women who have sought help from charity Refuge.
The exhibit is titled ‘No Red Flag Is Too Small’ and aims to not only raise awareness about abuse, and keep it at the forefront of people’s minds.
Chair of Refuge, Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, told Metro about research conducted by Refuge last year.
This Is Not Right
On November 25, 2024 Metro launched This Is Not Right, a year-long campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.
Throughout the year we will be bringing you stories that shine a light on the sheer scale of the epidemic.
With the help of our partners at Women’s Aid, This Is Not Right aims to engage and empower our readers on the issue of violence against women.
You can find more articles here, and if you want to share your story with us, you can send us an email at [email protected].
Read more:
- Introducing This Is Not Right: Metro’s year-long violence against women campaign
- Yvette Cooper’s message to abusers and rapists: The streets don’t belong to you
- Remembering the women killed by men in 2024
- Stories about violence against women don’t make an impact – this is why
- Men – we need your help to end violence against women
- What to do if your loved one is at risk from domestic abuse
They found around 80% of people would report a violent attack on somebody to the police, but when there was a nonviolent attack – which is actually one of the more dangerous forms of abuse – less than 40% of people recognized and reported it.
She added: ‘This showed us we needed to raise more awareness around subtle red flags that you need to look out for so that you can spot the signs and make sure victims get the help they need.
‘Raising awareness is a key goal, but we also want to start having more conversation with people.
‘The more we can have people come in here and talk to us about their experiences and what they’ve seen they create a much richer tapestry of inflammation that Refuge can work with.’
One visitor, Tybault, 32, said he and his friend had seen the large screens near Tottenham Court Road before; but today’s exhibition caught his eye.
He told Metro: ‘The interesting thing is these red flags come from really small places – like remarks on the Wifi – to more extreme examples, like trackers on cars.
‘This allows people to see that any red flag is a big deal and you shouldn’t discard anything just because it seems too small. It’s going to be small at first, and in the end it’s just going to end up very badly.’
A woman called Becky explained to Metro she saw information about today’s exhibit on Instagram and decided to come see it for herself.
‘It’s very moving,’ she said. ‘I was in an abusive relationship, so to see that so many other women have gone through it… I suppose it’s good to know that you’re not alone.
‘I hope this lets more women recognise the signs of abuse, because they’re not always obvious. I think it is really good because I think I resonate for so many of these, and I didn’t realize that the time that they were abuse.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
